Rivera 
KGN327 
S63 
1896 


Spain.  Ministerio  de 
Ultramar. 

Spanish  rule  in  Cuba 


1 

=i 

1 

3 
1 
1 
2 
7 

EGIONALLIB 

IARYFACI 

1 

Laws 

Governing  the 
Island. 


V 


^ 


;-i 


ij>^;^,^^,^;>«,^-jf«.<5t.    ■e'-if^ 


-a-^^ 


-gZ-/^     y^t^^^^'d'^^^i-^^^l.^t^^'C 


't^m^. 


SPANISH    RULE    IN    CUBA. 


LAWS  GOVERNING  THE  ISLAND. 


REVIEW     PUBLISHED     BY     THE    COLONIAL     OFFICE     IN     MADRID,      WITH 

DATA    AND    STATISTICS    COMPILED    FROM 

OFFICIAL    RECORDS. 


{AUTHORIZED   TRAXSLATJOA',    WITH 
ADDITIONAL  NOTES.) 


NEW   YORK: 

1896. 


INTR©DHeTI0N. 


HEN  accusations  are  based  upon  falsehood  and  misrepre- 
■^^  sentation  truth  should  demand  its  rights  and  enforce  the 
respect  which  is  its  due. 

So  many  calumnies  have  been  hurled  at  Spain  by  those 
who  are  interested  in  the  Cuban  revolt,  and  by  their  sympathizers, 
that  their  refutation  has  become  a  duty.  To  perform  this  duty 
is  the  object  of  these  pages. 

They  contain  a  sketch  of  the  laws  under  which  the  island 
of  Cuba  is  governed.  The  dates  of  all  the  laws  are  given  and 
the  text  of  the  more  important  acts  is  given  in  full. 

The  laws  of  Cuba  show  that  the  legislation  of  the  island 
has  kept  pace  with  that  of  the  most  advanced  nations.  They 
prove  that  the  judicial  institutions  of  Cuba  are  equal  to  those 
of  the  most  enlightened  countries,  and  that  the  liberties  of  her 
inhabitants  rival  those  of  the  citizens  of  the  most  democratic 
nations. 

Cuba  long  ago  ceased  to  be  a  colony.  She  is  now  an 
integral  part  of  Spain.  All  Spaniards,  be  they  born  in  the 
Peninsula  or  in  Cuba,  may  say.  "Where  Spain  has  her  tlag, 
there  is  Spain.  ' 


N  D  EIX 


liNTRODL'CllON,       . 

I.     Laws   of    thk    Indiks — Thkir  Changks — Unvvar 
RANTKi)  Revolts,    ..... 
II.     Thk  Zanjon  Capitulation — All  Demands  Con 
CEDED,     ....... 

III.  Ar.oLiTioN  OF  Slavery — AuoLrnoN  Law,     . 

IV.  Political  Organization — The  Constitution  oi 

Spain    Extended   to  Cuba — Ample    Libertie 
AND  Representation  Accorded,     . 
V.     Electoral    Law — Senators    and     Representa 

TIVES    TO    THE    CORTES,        .... 

VI.  Pl'blic  Meetings  and  Associations,   . 

VII.  Thk     Governor  -  Genkral  —  His     Powers    and 
Duties  Defined,     . 

VIII.  Provincial  Administration, 

IX.  Municipal  Administration, 

X.  Public  Peace,     . 

XI.  Department  of  Justice, 

XII.  Civil  Rights, 

XIII.  The   Law  Merchant, 

XIV.  Mortgages, 
XV.  Registry  and  Civil  Marriage,  . 

XVI.     Notaries,    ..... 
XVII.     Criminal  Law,  .... 
XVIII.     Public  Instruction,   . 
XIX.     Economics — Tax   Reduction, 

XX.     Cuba's  Public  Debt — Its  Origin 
XXI.     Appointments    to    Public    Office  —  Cubans    in 
High  and  Minor  Offices  Both  in  Cuba  and 
in  the  Government  of  Spain, 
XXII.     Unification      of      State     Professions     in     th 
Peninsula  and  in   the  Colonial  Provinces, 

XXIII.  Remarks — The  Autonomist  Manifesto, 

XXIV.  Reform  Law  of  1S95,  for  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico 
XXV.     Conclusion, 

Appendix — Statistics, 


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9 

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24 

25 
28 
28 
29 
30 
30 
32 
33 
33 
34 
35 
36 
37 
41 


41 

47 
48 

51 

66 

i-v. 


L 


LAWS  OF  THE  INDIES.* 


Their  Changes — Unwakkax'ikd  Revolts. 


SPAIN  lias  ever  proved  her  eagerness  to  favor  the  interests  and 
well-being  of  her  transatlantic  possessions.  The  discoverer 
of  a  world,  in  the  pride  of  her  achievement  she  toiled  with  a  moth- 
er's tenderness  to  surround  her  children  with  all  manner  of  guar- 
antees of  prosperity  and  development.  The  Spanish  legislation 
for  the  Indies  is  a  monument  to  the  rectitude  and  foresight  with 
which  the  metropolis  sought  the  growth  of  her  colonies  through 
the  moderation  and  justice  of  her  policy  toward  the  inhabitants  of 
the  conquered  lands. 

Under  these  wise  laws  the  first  and  essential  duties  of  a  grantee 
of  land  toward  the  inhabitants  of  his  grant  was  to  train  the  natives 
in  good  morals,  to  teach  them  the  Christian  faith,  preaching  it  to 
them  for  their  salvation,  and  to  treat,  aid  and  defend  them  as  he 
would  treat,  aid  and  defend  the  other  Spanish  subjects  and  vassals  ; 
so  that  by  such  beneficent  means  the  natives  might  be  drawn  toward 
the  suzerainty  of  Spain.  These  laws  were  intended  for  the  good  and 
for  the  preservation  of  the  natives,  and  sought  to  close  every  chan- 
nel through  which  injury  might  reach  them.  For  the  indoctrination 
and  protection  of  the  natives  and  of  the  slaves,  negroes  and 
mulattoes,  priests  were  appointed  and  parishes  established  through- 
out the  Indies  ;  for  them  schools  and  hospitals  were  founded  and 
endowed  ;  their  punishment  with  fines  was  prohibited  ;  their  law- 
suits were  ordered  to  be  speedily  tried  ;  the  Indians  were  forbidden 
to  sell  their  daughters,  even  in  marriage  ;  such  native  usages  and 
customs  as  were  subservient  to  good  government  were  ordered  to 
be  respected  ;  the  laws  intended  for  the  benefit  of  the  natives  were 
ordered  to  be  put  into  immediate  effect,  without  prejudice  to  the 
right  of  appeal,  while  in  many  other  provisions  the  law  guaranteed 
the  personal  liberty  of  the  Indians,  the  possession  and  enjoyment 
of  their  property,  and  provided  remedies  for  damages  and  safe- 
guards against  injury. 

Such  was  the  first  code  of  SjKiin  for  her  dominions  beyond  the 
seas. 

The  laws  of  the  Indies,  however,  intended  for  a  primitive  epoch 
of  calm  and  peace,  of  simplicity  of  life,  of  commercial  isolation  and 
*Tlie  Spanish  possessions  in  America  were  termed  the  Indies. 


Policy  of 
Moderation 
and  Justice. 


First  Steps 

Toward 
Civilization. 


Cuban  Revolts 

Coincident 

with  Liberal 

Reforms. 


Spain's 
Promises 
Fulfilled. 


Reform 
LcKislation. 


of  local  exclusiveness,  had  to  give  way  to  reforms  adequate  to  the 
legitimate  aspirations  of  the  colonists,  whose  advancing  education 
and  whose  large  and  profitable  trade  imposed  the  necessity  of  con- 
verting the  colonies  into  Spanish  provinces,  similar  in  organization, 
rights  and  duties  to  the  other  provinces  of  the  kingdom.  And  that 
has  gradually  been  done  since  the  middle  of  the  present  century. 

But  it  is  noteworthy  that  the  outbreaks  of  Cuban  insurrections 
have  coincided  in  time  with  the  intentions  of  the  metropolis  to 
transplant  to  Cuba  the  most  radical  legislative  innovations,  which 
innovations  have  been  deemed  in  Spain  marks  of  progress.  The 
Cuban  revolt  of  Yara*  was  almost  simultaneous  with  the 
Spanish  democratic  revolution  of  iS68.f  In  spite  of  the  demo- 
cratic ideas  which  bred  that  revolution  in  Spain  the  Cuban  separatist 
struggle  lasted  ten  years.  And  although  during  that  critical  period 
Spain  was  discouraged  and  ruined  by  the  efforts  required  for  other 
civil  wars  at  home,  those  ten  years  were  insufficient  to  exhaust  her 
energy,  the  separatist  struggle  finally  terminating  in  an  absolute 
pardon  for  the  rebels  and  large  and  advantageous  concessions  to 
Cuba.  The  actual  revolt  began  also  at  the  very  moment  when  the 
Chambers  at  Madrid  were  giving  their  attention  in  a  liberal  spirit  to 
the  solution  of  colonial  problems. 

How  can  the  singular  behavior  of  those  who  rise  in  arms  to 
break  every  bond  of  union  with  the  mother  country  be  justified  ?  No 
reason  can  explain  it  ;  no  pretext  may  excuse  it.  Spain  has  dis- 
charged all  the  duties  of  a  metropolis  mindful  of  the  interests  of  her 
colonies,  and  has  kept  every  promise  of  the  Zanjon  capitulation.  J 
To  prove  the  former  it  is  sufficient  to  glance  at  the  Cuban  politi- 
cal and  administrative  situation,  adapted  progressively  to  the  ad- 
vances introduced  into  the  national  legislation.  To  believe  the 
latter  no  testimony  is  necessary  save  that  of  the  facts  themselves, 
which  facts  are  in  harmony  with  the  demands  of  the  Cuban  capitu- 
lants  of  1878. 

Slavery  has  been  totally  abolished  ;  the  Cubans  have  been 
granted  the  same  rights  as  other  Spaniards  ;  they  are  represented  in 
the  Cortes  ;  their  provincial  ami  municipal  administration  is  sur- 
rounded by  guarantees  ;  the  civil  and  criminal  laws  of  Spain,  ad- 
ministered by  tribunals  similar  to  those  of  the  Peninsula,  have 
been  established  in  ("uba  ;  public  instruction  has  been  organized 
upon  the  same  basis  as  in  Spain  ;  the  economic  legislation  for 
Cuba  has  been  regulated  to  facilitate  tiie  prosperity  and  wealth  of 
that  magnificent    portion  of  America  ;  and  if   aught  were  lacking  in 

♦  A  small  town  in  the  province  of  Santiago  de  Cuba.  There  the  revolt  of  1S6S-78 
began. 

+  The  revolution  which  drove  Isabel  11.  from  the  throne. 

t  The  Cuban  revolt  which  began  in  isc.s  ended  with  the  capitulation,  which  took 
place  at  the  Zanjon  in  isrs.     Vide  Cha])ter  II.,  jiage  11. 

10 


an  administration  and  a  governnient  entirely  free  from  restrictions 
and  drawbacks,  local  or  regional,  the  law  of  March  15,  1895,  has 
blotted  away  all  suspicion  of  selfishness  on  the  part  of  the  mother 
country. 

n. 

THE  ZANJON  CAPITULATION. 

Articles  of  Capitui.a  iion. 

"The  people  and  the  armed  forces  of  the  C'entral  Department,* 
and  armed  groups  from  other  departments,  having  met  in  conven- 
tion as  the  only  fit  means  of  terminating,  in  one  sense  or  another, 
the  pending  negotiations,  and  having  considered  the  propositions 
submitted  by  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  Spanish  army,  deter- 
mined on  their  part  to  propose  amendments  to  said  propositions 
by  presenting  the  following  Articles  of  Capitulation  : 

Article    I.  The  political,  organic  and  administrative   laws  en-      Articles  of 
joyed  by  Porto  Rico  shall  be  established  in  Cuba.  Capitulation. 

Art.  II.  Free  pardon  for  all  political  offenses  committed  from 
1868  to  date,  and  freedom  for  those  who  are  under  indictment  or 
are  serving  sentences  within  or  without  the  island.  Amnesty  to  all 
deserters  from  the  Spanish  army,  regardless  of  nationality,  this 
clause  being  extended  to  include  all  those  who  have  taken  part 
directly  or  indirectly  in  the  revolutionary  movement. 

Art.  III.  Freedom  for  the  Asiatic  cooliesf  and  for  the  slaves 
who  may  be  in  the  insurgent  ranks. 

Art.  IV.  No  individual  who  by  virtue  of  this  capitulation 
shall  submit  to  and  remain  under  the  authority  of  the  Spanish 
Government  shall  be  compelled  to  render  any  military  service 
before  peace  be  established  over  the  whole  territory. 

Art.  V.  Every  individual  who  by  virtue  of  this  capitulation 
may  wish  to  depart  from  the  island  shall  be  permitted  to  do  so,  and 
the  Spanish  Government  shall  provide  him  with  the  means  therefor, 
without  passing  through  any  town  or  settlement,  if  he  so  desire. 

Art.  VI.  The  capitulation  of  each  force  shall  take  place  iii 
uninhabited  spots,  where  beforehand  the  arms  and  other  munitions 
of  war  shall  be  deposited. 

Art.  VII.  In  order  to  further  the  acceptation,  bv  the  insur- 
gents of  the  other  departments,  of  these  Articles  of  Capitulation, 
the  commander-in-chief  of  the  Spanish  army  shall  furnish  them  free 
transportation,  by  land  and  sea,  over  all  the 'lines  within  his  con- 
trol, to  the  Central  Department. 

Art.  VIII.  This   pact  with   the  committee   of   the   Central   De- 

*The  Central  Department  was  one  of  the  three  military  districts  of  the  island, 
and  was  composed  of  the  present  provinces  of  Puerto  Principe  and  Santa  Clara. 
The  main  force  of  the  rebels  was  in  this  department. 

+  These  coolies  were  Chinese  who  had  been  imported  under  contract  to  serve 
for  a  term  of  eight  years,  and  who  had  broken  their  contracts. 

11 


of  the 
Insurgents 


of  the 
Capitulants 


partment  shall  be  deemed  to  have  been  made  with  all  the  depart- 
ments of  the  island  which  may  accept  its  conditions. 

Encampment  of  St.  Agistin,   February  lo,   1878. 

E.   L.   LuACES. 

Rafael  Rodriguez.  Secretary. 

This  document  includes  : 
Demands  The  political  and  administrative  organization  of  Cuba. 

Pardon  of  political  offenses,  freedom  of  persons  under  indict- 
ment, and  amnesty  for  deserters. 

The  emancipation  of  the  coolies  and  the  slaves  within  the  rebel 
ranks. 

Free    transportation    for   those   desirous    of    leaving   the  island. 
Exemption  of  the  capitulants  from  military  service  until  the  whole 
territory  of  the  island  was  pacified. 
Treatment  No  complaints  wcrc  heard  of  the  lack  of  frankness,  nay  of   cor- 

diality, in  the  reception  of  the  capitulants  after  their  surrender. 
All  dissension  between  those  who  again  became  brethren  ceased. 
When  the  arms  had  been  laid  down,  the  commander-in  chief  and  the 
Spanish  Government  gladly  sought  to  tighten  those  bonds  of  mutual 
affection,  esteem  and  sympathy  which  were  to  throw  wide  open 
before  the  insurgents  the  doors  of  the  nation,  and  make  them  sharers 
of  the  national  life  equally  with  other  citizens  of  Spain.  Some  of 
the  capitulants,  men  noted  during  the  war,  went  to  Madrid,  and,  far 
from  being  received  in  official  circles  with  prejudice  and  suspicion- 
obtained  government  offices,  and  a  means  of  subsistence  derived  from 
the  revenues  of  the  state,  or  under  the  patronage  of  men  eminent 
in  the  politics  of  the  nation  took  positions  in  banks  and  mercantile 
firms,  or  practiced  the  arts  or  established  industries.* 

The  facts  will  readily  bear  witness  to  the  manner  in  which  the 
other  articles  of  the  capitulation  were  kept. 

In  fact,  the  new  organization  of  the  island  of  Cuba,  which  was 
to  be  like  that  of  Porto  Rico,  has  been  established  in  so  generous 
and  benevolent  a  spirit  that  to-day  the  natives  of  the  latter  island 
complain  because  the  franchise  is  more  restricted  in  Porto  Rico  than 
in  Cuba.  In  this  respect,  as  in  all  others,  the  mother  country  has 
more  than  kept  the  pledges  of  the  Zanjon  treaty. 

♦  Among  the  Cubans  who  took  part  in  the  former  war  and  who  actually  continue 
filling,  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  administration,  government  offices  in  Spain  are 
the  following ;  Seilores  Martinez,  Freire,  Fonseca,  Roa,  Ramirez  and  Figueredo. 
Calixto  Garcia  had  a  position  in  the  Manco  Hipotecario.  The  rebel  chieftain  Lacret, 
who,  like  the  former,  seems  to  have  disregarded  the  promises  he  made  and  the 
favors  he  received,  was  for  a  long  time  in  business  in  the  mother  country. 


12 


m. 

ABOLITION   OF    SLAVERY. 

From  the  time  of  the  Zanjon  treaty,  through  the  measures  whicli        Slavery 
secured  the  inhabitants  of  the  possessions  of  Spain  in  the  Antilles      Abolished. 
in  their  rights  as  citizens,  regardless  of  race  or  color,  slavery  disap- 
peared from  Spanish  America. 

According  to  Art.  3  of  the  Articles  of  Capitulation  only  the 
coolies  and  slaves  who  were  in  the  rebel  ranks  were  to  be  freed. 
Spain,  however,  made  a  more  ample  and  generous  concession.  The 
decree  of  October  15,  186S,  emancipated  the  children  born  of 
slave  mothers  after  September  17  of  that  year.  The  act  of  July 
4,  1870,  emancipated  the  children  born  after  that  date,  the  slaves 
who  had  served  under  the  Spanish  flag,  those  who  had  reached  the 
age  of  si.\ty  years,  and  those  which  belonged  to  the  state.  The  act 
of  February  13,  1880,  abolished  the  state  of  slavery,  and  provided 
that  the  slaves  included  in  the  census  of  1871  should  remain  under 
the  apprenticeship*  of  their  possessors  for  a  term  lasting  from 
five  to  eight  years,  according  to  the  number  and  ages  of  the  appren- 
ticed laborers  of  each  employer.  But  the  term  of  eight  years  had 
not  expired  when  the  Spanish  Government,  anticipating  the  law, 
declared,  by  the  royal  decree  of  October  17,  1886,  that  from  the 
time  of  the  proclamation  of  that  decree  in  Cuba  the  system  of  ap- 
prenticeship established  in  1880  should  cease,  and  obliterated  for  ever 
all  vestiges  of  slavery  in  the  Spanish  dominions.  Thus  Spain  con- 
ceded far  more  than  had  been  demanded  by  the  capitulants  of  1878. 

ABOLITION   LAW. 
Act  of  Febru.^rv  13,    18S0. 
Alfonso  XIL,  by  the  grace  of  God  Constitutional  King  of  Spain. 
To  all  whom  these  presents  shall  come,  know  ye  :  that  the  Cortes 
have  decreed  and  we  sanctioned  the  following  : 

Article  L  Slavery  in  the  island  of  Cuba  shall  cease,  in  accord- 
ance with  this  law. 


*  Chap.  73  of  3  and  4  Will.  IV.  abolished  slavery  in  the  British  West  Indies  by 
substituting  for  the  relation  of  "  master  and  slave  "  the  relation  of  '•  employer  and 
apprenticed  labourer,"  which  was  to  cease  at  the  end  of  a  fi.xed  period.  The  Spanish 
act  is  similar  to  the  English  statute.  The  term  used  in  the  Spanish  act  ispatronatc, 
from  the  Latin  patronatus,  the  relation  existing  between  patron  and  client.  In  Rome 
emancipation  did  not  confer,  as  a  rule,  absolute  freedom.  The  emancipated  slave, 
the  freedman  (i.  e.,  freed  man),  became  the  client  of  his  former  master,  and  was 
termed  libertus.  This  is  the  term  applied  by  the  Spanish  statute  to  former  slaves 
emancipated  under  previous  laws  and  who  were  not  yet  in  full  possession  of  their 
civil  rights.  The  "  apprenticed  labourers  "  of  the  English  statute  and  the  "  patroci- 
nados  "  of  the  Spanish  act  correspond  rather  to  the  "  statu  liberi  "  of  Rome. 

13 


Employer  .Tay 

Alienate  His 

Rights 

Over  His 

Apprenticed 

Laborers, 

but 

riembers 

of  a  Family 

.Must  Not  Be 

Separated. 


Rights 
and  Duties 

of 
Employers. 


Waifes  of 

Apprenticed 

Laborers. 


Art.  II.  The  persons  who  were  registered  as  slaves  in  the  cen- 
sus of  1S71,  without  violation  of  the  act  of  July  4,  1870,  and  who 
still  continue  in  slavery  at  the  time  of  proclamation  of  this  act, 
shall  remain  during  the  period  herein  fixed  as  the  apprenticed  la- 
borers of  their  jiossessors. 

The  right  of  an  employer  to  the  services  of  his  apprenticed  la- 
borer shall  be  alienable  by  all  the  means  known  to  the  law.  But  no 
employer  shall  alienate  his  right  to  the  services  of  a  child  under 
twelve  years  of  age  without  alienating  his  right  to  the  services  of 
the  child's  father  and  mother  to  the  new  employer.  If  he  alienate 
his  right  to  the  services  of  a  parent,  he  must  also  alienate  his  right 
to  the  services  of  the  children  under  twelve  years  of  age  to  the 
new  employer.  In  no  case  shall  the  members  of  a  family  group  be 
separated. 

.\rt.  III.  The  employer  shall  preserve  his  right  to  utilize  the 
services  of  his  apprenticed  laborer,  and  to  be  his  legal  representative. 

Art.  IV.  The  duties  of  the  employer  are  : 

1.  To  feed  his  apprenticed  laborers. 

2.  To  clothe  them. 

3.  To  attend  to  them  when  ill. 

4.  To  compensate  them  for  their  services  with  the  stipend  herein 
fixed. 

5.  To  give  minors  a  common-school  education  and  the  training 
necessary  to  practice  some  useful  art  or  trade. 

6.  To  feed  and  clothe  his  apprenticed  laborers'  children,  infants, 
and  non-adults,  born  before  and  after  the  apprenticeship,  and  attend 
to  them  when  ill,  the  employer  being  permitted  to  avail  himself  of 
the  services  of  such  children  without  compensation. 

.\rt.  V.  Upon  the  proclamation  of  this  act  every  apprenticed 
laborer  shall  be  given  a  written  notice,  in  the  form  the  regulations 
shall  prescribe,  informing  him  of  the  substance  of  the  rights  and 
duties  of  his  new  state. 

Art.  VI.  The  monthly  stipend  referred  to  in  Sec.  4  of  Art.  I^'. 
shall  be  from  one  to  two  dollars  for  those  between  eighteen  years  of 
age  and  the  age  of  majority,*  and  three  dollars  for  those  who  have 
attained  their  majority. 

In  case  of  incapacity  to  labor,  owing  to  illness,  or  to  any  other 
cause,  the  employer  shall  be  exempt  from  payment  of  the  stipend 
corresponding  to  the  time  such  incapacity  may  last. 

Art.  VII.  The  apprenticeship  shall  terminate  : 

1.  V>y  extinction,  under  a  classification  of  the  apprenticed  la- 
laborers  according  to  seniority,  in  the  manner  specified  by  Art.  VIII., 
so  that  the  apprenticeship  shall  cease  absolutely  at  the  end  of  eight 
years  from  the  time  of  proclamation  of  this  act, 

2.  By  mutual  agreement  between  the  employer  and  the  appren- 
ticed labf)rer,  without  the  intervention  of  a  third  party.  But  if  the 
apprenticed  laborer  be  under  twenty  years  of  age  his  parents,  if 
known,  may  intervene,  or,  in  their  default,  the  local  board  may  inter- 
pose, the  age  of  the  aiiprenticed  laborer  being  determined  as  pro- 
vided in  Art.  XIII. 

3.  At  the  option  of  the  (•in|)Ioycr,  unless  the  apjirenticed  la- 
borer be  a  mincM"  or  a  sexagenarian,  or  be  ill  or  disabled. 

*  /.  f.,  twenty- five  years. 

14 


4.  Uy  indemnification  to  the  master  for  the  loss  of  his  appren- 
ticed laborer's  services.  'I'he  indemnification  shall  be  of  from  thirty 
to  fifty  dollars  a  year,  according  to  the  age, sex  and  condition  of  the 
apprenticed  laborer,  for  each  year  still  iniserved  of  the  first  five 
years,  and  the  same  amount  a  year  for  half  of  what  part  of  the  final 
three  years  he  may  be  recjuired  to  serve.* 

5.  Through  any  cause  of  emancipation  provided  by  the  civil  and 
penal  laws,  or  through  the  failure  of  the  employer  to  discharge  the 
duties  imposed  upon  him  by  Art.  IV. 

Art.  VIII.  The  extinction  of  the  apprenticeship  under  theclassi- 
fication,  according  to  seniority,  referred  to  in  Sec.  i  of  Art.  VII.,  shall 
take  place  by  fourth  parts  of  the  number  of  apprenticed  laborers 
subject  to  each  emjiloyer,  commencing  at  the  end  of  the  fifth  year, 
and  continuing  at  the  end  of  each  successive  year,  until  at  the  end 
of  the  eighth  year  the  institution  shall  cease  absolutely. 

The  selection  of  the  apprenticed  laborers  according  to  seniority 
shall  be  made  before  the  local  board  a  month  before  the  end  of  the 
fifth  year  and  of  each  of  the  remaining  years.  If  in  any  year  the 
number  of  apprenticed  laborers  of  the  same  age  be  greater  than  the 
number  to  be  freed,  the  selection  shall  be  by  lot  cast  before  the 
board. 

If  the  number  of  apprenticed  laborers  be  greater  than  four,  and 
be  not  divisible  by  four,  the  excess  shall  be  distributed  among  the 
first  three  classes,  beginning  with  the  first. 

If  the  number  of  apprenticed  laborers  be  under  four,  the  selec- 
tion shall  be  by  thirds,  by  halves,  or  singly  ;  but  the  employer  shall 
not  be  under  obligation  to  discharge  his  apprenticed  laborers  until 
the  end  of  the  sixth,  the  seventh,  or  the  eighth  year  respectively. f 

The  regulations  shall  i\\  the  method  of  making  the  registers  and 
taking  the  census  necessary  to  the  selections. 

Art.  IX.  Those  who  have  been  discharged  from  their  appren- 
ticeship, in  accordance  with  Art.  VII.,  shall  be  granted  civil  rights, 
but  they  shall  continue  under  the  protection  of  the  state  and  sub- 
ject to  laws  and  regulations  which  shall  require  them  to  prove  that 
they  are  under  contract  to  labor,;};  or  are  occupied  in  some  trade  or 
useful  occupation. 

Orphans  under  twenty  years  of  age  shall  be  under  the  tutelage 
of  the  state. 

Art.  X.  The  obligation  by  those  who  have  been  discharged  from 
apprenticeship  to  prove  a  contract  to  labor  shall  last  four  years. 
Those  who  disregard  this  obligation  shall,  at  the  discretion  of  the 
mayor,  upon  the  advice  of  the  local  board,  be  deemed  guilty  of  va- 
grancy and  may  be  condemned  to  labor  for  pay  on  public  works  for 
a  term  fixed  by  the  regulations  for  the  particular  case.  At  the  end 
of  the  four  years  referred  to  in  this  article  those  who  have  been 
freed  from  apprenticeship  shall  have  full  civil  and  political  rights. 

*  Under  the  classification  of  Art.  VIII.  an  apprenticed  laborer  might  not  be  bound 
to  serve  the  whole  of  the  final  three  years. 

•!•/.  e.,  an  employer  of  but  one  apprenticed  laborer  would  not  be  required  to 
discharge  him  before  the  end  of  the  eighth  year  ;  an  employer  of  two  would  dis- 
charge one  at  the  end  of  the  seventh  year  and  the  other  at  the  end  of  the  eighth 
year ;  an  employer  of  three  would  discharge  one  at  the  end  of  the  sixth  year,  &c. 

i  This  was  to  prevent  vagrancy,  the  proof  of  bt-intr  under  contract  to  labor 
meaning  simply  proof  of  being  in  employment. 

15 


Provisiuns  tor 

the 
Extinction  of 

this 
Institution. 


To  Prevent 
Vagrancy. 


Corporal 
Punishment 
Prohibited. 


Local  Boards 

Created 

to  Enforce 

this  Act. 


Art.  XI.  Those  who  previous  to  the  promulgation  of  tliis  act 
have  bargained  for  their  freedom  with  their  possessors  shall  retain 
the  rights  acquired  by  their  bargain.  They  may,  in  addition,  take 
advantage  of  Sec.  4,  Art.  VII.,  by  paying  their  employers  the  differ- 
ence between  the  sum  due  under  the  said  Sec.  4,  Art.  VII.,  and  the 
sum  already  paid. 

Art.  XII.  Those  who  by  virtue  of  the  act  of  July  4,  1870,  are 
free,  through  having  been  born  after  September  17,  1868,  shall  be 
subject  to  the  provisions  of  that  act,  except  in  so  far  as  this  law  may 
be  more  advantageous  to  them. 

Freedmen,*  emancipated  under  Art.  XIX.  of  the  said  act  of  1870, 
shall  continue  under  the  tutelage  of  the  state,  and  shall  for  four 
years  be  obliged  to  prove  the  e.xistence  of  their  contracts  to  labor 
and  fulfdl  the  other  requirements  as  to  occupation,  referred  to  in 
Arts.  IX.  and  X.  hereof. 

Art.  XIII.  For  the  purposes  of  this  act  the  term  "minor"  shall 
be  understood  to  refer  to  a  child  under  seven.  If  the  age  be 
unknown  tlie  local  boards  shall  determine  the  age,  taking  into  con- 
sideration the  physical  appearance  of  the  minor  and  the  advice  of  an 
expert.- 

Art.  XIV.  Employers  shall  not,  even  under  pretext  of  maintain- 
ing the  good  order  and  discipline  of  the  work  on  their  plantations, 
inflict  corporal  punishment  on  their  apprenticed  laborers,  as  pro- 
hibited by  Sec.  2,  Art.  XXIX.  of  the  act  of  July  4,  1870.  They  shall, 
however,  have  the  coercitive  and  disciplinary  rights  provided  by  the 
regulations,  which  shall  contain  rules  both  to  secure  the  attendance  of 
apprenticed  laborers  at  their  work  and  to  prevent  the  exaction  of 
excessive  labor. 

Employers  may  also  reduce  the  monthly  stipend  of  an  appren- 
ticed laborer  by  an  amount  proportionate  to  the  absence  from  his 
labor,  in  the  cases  and  in  the  manner  determined  by  the  regulations. 

Art.  XV.  A  board  presided  over  by  the  Provincial  Governor, 
and,  in  his  absence,  by  the  president  of  the  Provincial  Assembly, 
shall  be  organized  in  each  province.  The  board  shall  consist  of 
a  provincial  assemblyman,  the  judge  of  the  district  court,  the  dis- 
trict attorney,  the  corporation  counsel  of  the  provincial  capital  and 
two  taxpayers,  one  of  whom  must  be  an  employer  of  apprenticed 
laborers. 

Local  boards,  in  the  discretion  of  the  respective  provincial 
governors  and  upon  the  previous  ai)probation  of  the  Governor- 
General,  shall  be  organized  in  the  municipalities  where  convenient. 
Each  board  shall  be  presided  over  by  the  mayor,  and  shall  consist  of 
the  corporation  counsel,  a  principal  taxpayer,  and  two  reputable 
citizens.  These  boards  and  the  district  attorney  shall  attend  to 
the  rigid  enforcement  of  this  act,  and  shall  have,  in  addition  to  the 
powers  specified  herein,  the  powers  entrusted  to  them  by  the  regu- 
lations. 

Akt.  X\'I.  Apprenticed  laborers  shall  be  subject  to  the  juris- 
diction of  the  ordinary  courts  for  their  misdemeanors  and  crimes, 
under  the  Penal  Code,  but  for  rebellion,  sedition  and  rioting  they 
shall  be  tried  by  military  tribunals.    . 

Nevertheless,  wiieii  apprenticed  laborers  disturb  the  good  order 
.iimI   (lis( :ii)Iine  of   the  work,  employers,  if  their  disciplinary  powers 


*  For  "  freedman  "  see  note  page  l."5. 


16 


be  insufficient,  may  call   upon  the  Governor-General  for  aid  against     Penalties  for 
their  apprenticed   laborers.     At  the    third  justifiable  complaint  the      Refractory 
apprenticed  laborer  may  be  sentenced  to  serve  in  the  public  works     Apprenticed 
for  the  term  fixed,  according  to  the  offense,  by  the  regulations,  and       Laborers, 
not  exceeding   the  amount  of  time   remaining  before  his  discharge 
from  apprenticeship.     If,  while  serving  his  sentence,  the  apprenticed 
laborer  should  be  guilty  of  a  serious  breach  of  discipline  or   should 
abandon  his  work,  or  if  after  serving  his  sentence  he  should  again 
be  guilty  of  his  previous  offense,  the  Ciovernor-General  may,  upon 
information    with    specific    reasons    to    the    Supreme    Government, 
order  the   apprenticed    laborer  to   be   transported  to   the    Spanish 
islands  on   the   African  coast,  where  he  shall  remain  subject  to  the 
supervision  fixed  by  the  regulations. 

Art.  XVII.  The  regulations  to  which  this  act  refers  shall  be  Framing  of 
made  within  a  term  of  sixty  days  from  the  receipt  of  a  copy  of  this  Regulations, 
act  by  the  Governor-General,  after  consulting  the  Archbishop  of 
Santiago,  the  Bishop  of  Havana,  the  Supreme  Court  of  Havana,  and 
the  Council  of  Administration.  At  the  end  of  said  term,  which  shall 
not  be  extensible,  he  shall  proclaim  and  enforce  the  act  and  the  regu- 
lations. He  must  send  to  the  Supreme  Government  by  the  first  mail 
a  copy  of  the  regulations  for  approval,  and  the  Supreme  Govern- 
ment, after  hearing  the  Council  of  State,  shall  signify  its  approval 
or  disapproval  of  the  regulations  within  a  month  from  the  receipt 
of  said  copy. 

Art.  XVIII.  All  laws,  regulations  and  ordinances  inconsistent 
with  this  act,  with  the  exception  of  such  of  their  provisions  as  may 
be  modified  by  the  foregoing  articles,  are  hereby  annulled,  without 
prejudice  of  the  rights  acquired  by  slaves  and  freedmen  under  the 
act  of  July  4,  1870. 

Therefore,  we  command  all  the  courts,  justices,  heads  of  depart- 
ments, governors  and  other  authorities,  civil,  military  and  ecclesi- 
astical, of  whatsoever  class  and  degree,  to  keep,  and  cause  to  be  kept, 
enforce  and  execute  this  law  in  all  its  parts. 

Given  in  the  Palace,  February  13,  1880. 


The  Minister  of  the  Colonies, 


I,  THK  King. 

Jose  Elduayen. 


Abolition  of  Apprenticeship  to  Labor. 


Royal  Decree  of  October  7,  1886. 

Upon  the  proposition  of  the  Minister  of  the  Colonies  and  with 
the  concurrence  of  the  Council  of  Ministers,  in  the  name  of  my 
august  son,  King  Alfonso  XIII.,  and  as  Queen  Regent  of  the  king- 
dom, I  decree  as  follows  : 

Article  I.  From  the  proclamation  of  this  decree  in  the  island 
of  Cuba  the  apprenticeship  to  labor  established  by  the  act  of  Feb- 
ruary 13,  1880,  shall  cease. 

Art.  II.  The  apprenticed  laborers  now  existing  shall  continue 
in  the  state  of  those  referred  to  in  Art.  VII.  of  said  act,*  and 
subject,  therefore,  to  the  provisions  of  Arts.  IX.  and  X.  of  the  same. 

.■\rt.  III.  The  authorities  shall  take  scrupulous  care  that  tiie 
provisions  of  Chapter  IV.  of   the   regulations  of  May  8,    1880,   be 


*  See  p.  14. 


17 


enforced,  and  that  without  loss  of  time  the  new  freedmen  be  pro- 
vided with  the  certificate  referred  to  in  Art.  LXXXIII.  of  said  reg- 
ulations. 

Art.  IV.  Apart  from  the  duties  imposed  upon  Government 
officials  bv  Art.  LXXIII.  of  the  regulations  of  May  8,  these  officials 
shall  see  that  the  apprenticed  laborers  who  have  been  discharged 
from  apprenticeship,  and  who  have  not  completed  the  term  of  four 
years  referred  to  in  Art.  X.  of  the  aforesaid  act,  shall  present  every 
three  months  to  the  mayors  of  the  municipalities  within  which  they 
reside  their  freedmen's  certificates  and  some  document  proving  that 
they  are  under  contract  to  labor. 

The  mayors  of  the  municipalities  shall  keep  a  register  of  those 
who  shall  have  presented  themselves,  and  shall  place  the  delinquents 
at  the  disposal  of  the  superior  authorities  of  the  province,  who 
shall  comply  with  the  provisions  of  Art.  X.*  of  the  act  of  February 
13,  and  the  corresponding  articles  of  the  regulations  of  May  8. 

Art.  V.  The  provincial  and  local  boards  created  by  Art.  XV.  f 
of  the  act  of  February  13  are  hereby  suppressed,  and  the  provisions 
of  that  act  which  are  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  the  present 
decree  are  hereby  annulled. 

Given  at  the  Palace  on  October  7,  1886. 

Maria  Christina. 
The  Minister  of  the  Colonies, 

German  Gama;co. 

IV. 

POLITICAL   ORGANIZATION. 

The   Constitution  of  Spain,  of  July  2,   1876,  was  proclaimed  in 

the  island  of  Cuba  by  the  royal  decree  of  April  7,  1881.     From  that 

The  Constitu-   ^i.^^-  the  inhabitants  of  Cuba  have  enjoved  all  the  rights  of  Spanish 

tion  of  Spain  .    .  ' 

Extended         Citizens. 

to  Cuba.  Under  the  Constitution  no  inhabitant  of  Cuba  may  be  arrested 

except  in  the  cases  and  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  law.  Within 
twenty-four  hours  of  the  arrest  the  prisoner  must  be  discharged  or 
surrendered  to  the  judicial  authorities  ;  thereupon  a  judge  having 
jurisdiction  must,  within  seventy-two  hours,  either  order  the  dis- 
charge'of  the  prisoner  or  order  his  commitment  to  jail.  Within 
the  same  limit  of  time  the  prisoner  must  be  informed  of  the  de- 
cision in  his  case.    (Art.  IV.  of  the  Constitution.) 

No  Spaniard,  and  consequently  no  Cuban,  may  be  committed 
except  upon  the  warrant  of  a  judge  having  jurisdiction.  Within 
seventy-two  hours  of  the  commitment  the  prisoner  must  be  granted 
a  hearing,  and  the  warrant  of  commitment  either  sustained  or 
quashed.     (Art.  V.) 

Any  person  arrested  or  committed  without  the  formalities  re- 
quired by  law,  unless  his  case  fall  within  the  exceptions  made  by 
the  Constitution    and    by  the   laws,    shall    be    discharged   ui)on   his 

*  See  J).  1.'). 
+  Sec  p.  If,. 

18 


own  petition,  or  upon  the  petition  of  any  Spanish  subject.     (Art.  ^^) 

No  one  shall  enter  tlie  dwellinii;  of  a  Cuban  without  his  consent 
except  in  the  cases  and  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  law.     (Art.  VI.) 

His  mail  while  in  charge  of  the  Post  Office  shall  neither  be 
opened  nor  withheld.     (Art.  VII.) 

He  shall  not  be  compelled  to  change  his  dwelling  or  residence 
except  upon  the  order  of  an  authority  competent  thereto  and  in 
the  cases  provided  by  law.     (Art.  IX.) 

The  penalty  of  confiscation  .)f  property  shall  never  be  imposed 
upon  him  ;  nor  may  he  be  deprived  of  his  private  property  unless 
by  due  process  of  law,  and  when  the  expropriation  be  for  public 
use,  after  a  previous  just  compensation.  If  there  be  no  previous  just 
compensation  the  courts  shall  protect  his  rights,  and  in  tiie  proper 
case  restore  him  to  the  possession  of  his  property. 

The    Roman   C'atholic   and   Apostolic   religion  is  the   religion  of      Freedom  <>f 
the  state.     But  no  Cuban  shall  suffer  molestation  on  account  of  his       ^^orship. 
religious    opinions,  nor    be    disturbed    in   the   practice   of  his  faith, 
provided  he  duly  respect  Christian  morals.     (.\rt.  XI.) 

The  learned  professions  are  open  to  all  Spanish  subjects  and 
they  may  obtain  their  professional  instruction  in  any  manner  they 
deem  fit.  Any  Spanish  subject  may  establish  and  conduct  a  school, 
in  accordance  with   the    laws.     (Art.  XII.) 

Every  Cuban,  like  every  Spaniard,  has  the  right  : 

Freely  to  express  his  ideas  and  opinions,  orally  or  in  writing 
using  the  printing  press  or  any   similar   device,  without   censorship. 

Peaceably  to  assemble.  Freedom  of 

To  form  associations.  *••*,  p-""'  """ 

of  neeting. 

To  petition,  by  himself  or  in  combination  with  others,  the  King, 
the  Cortes,  and  the  authorities. 

The  right  to  petition  is  denied  only  to  armed  forces.    (.Art.  XIII.) 

All  Cubans  are  eligible  to  public  office,  according  to  their  merit 
and  capacity.     (.\rt.  XV.) 

The  constitutional  rights  conceded  to  Cubans  are  guaranteed  by   Constitutional 
the   provisions  of  laws  passed  to  enforce  the  Constitution.     These 
laws   provide  remedies,  civil   and   criminal,  for  the  infringement  of 
constitutional   rights  by  judges,  authorities  and  functionaries  of  all 
classes.     (Art.  XVI.) 

All  these  constitutional  rights  of  the  inhabitants  of  Cuba,  which 
render  their  citizenship  as  valuable  a  protection  as  the  citizenship  of 
any  other  state,  no  matter  how  democratic,  were  secured  by  the 
•organization  of  municipalities  and  provincial  assemblies,  and  above 
all  by  representation  in  the  Cortes,  as  provided  by  the  two  follow- 
ing articles  of  the  Constitution  : 

Art.  89.  The  colonial  provnices  shall  be  governed  by  special 
Jaws  ;  but   the  Government   is  authorized    to  extend   to  these  prov- 

19 


Ri^chts 
Guaranteed. 


in  the  Spanish 
Cortes 


inces  the  laws  proclaimed  or  that  may  be  proclaimed  for  the  Penin- 
sula, with   the    modifications    it    may   deem    proper,   informing  the 
Cortes  thereof. 
Representa-  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico   shall  be   represented  in  the  Cortes  of  the 

tion  of  Cuba     kingdom,  in   the   manner  that  shall  be  prescribed  by  a  special  law, 
f"..._"o_*'-_:'f°   and  this  law  may  differ  for  each  of  the  islands. 

Provisiox.al  Article.  The  (rovernment  shall  determine  when 
and  in  what  manner  the  representatives  of  the  island  of  Cuba  to  the 
Cortes  shall  be  elected. 

Cubans  have  therefore  the  following  constitutional  rights  firmly 
established  by  the  organic  law  :  personal  security  against  arbitrary 
arrest  ;  inviolability  of  the  domicile  ;  security  of  the  secrecy  of  cor- 
respondence ;  security  against  confiscation  of  property  ;  the  suf- 
frage ;  freedom  of  worship  ;  freedom  of  education,  and  freedom  of 
the  study  and  practice  of  professions  ;  freedom  of  speech  ;  freedom 
of  the  press  ;  right  of  peaceable  assembly  ;  right  to  form  associa- 
tions ;  right  to  petition  ;  eligibility  to  all  public  offices  ;  and  a 
municipal  and  provincial  government. 

Is  it  tlierefore  reasonable  to  speak  of  the  "  despotism  of  the 
mother  country,"  or  of  the  "irritating  condition  of  the  island  of 
Cuba " ? 

V. 

ELECTORAL    LAW. 

Senators  and  Representatives  to  the  Cortes. 


How  Senators 


Under  the  act  of  January  9,  1879,  Cuba  elects  thirteen  senators. 

Are  Elected.  Their  apportionment  is  as  follows  :  The  province  of  Havana  elects 
three  senators  ;  the  provinces  of  Matanzas,  Pinar  del  Rio,  Puerto 
Principe,  Santa  Clara  and  Santiago  de  Cuba  two  each  ;  the  arch- 
bisiiopric  of  Santiago  de  Cuba  one  ;  the  University  of  Havana 
one,*  and  the  Economic  Society  one. 

The  act  of  February  8,  1877,  regulates  the  election  of  senators. 
Senators  in  each  jirovince  are  elected  by  secret  ballot  by  an  electoral 
college.  Tliis  college  is  composed  of  electors  chosen  by  the  Pro- 
vincial Assembly  and  electors  chosen  by  secret  ballot  by  the  boards 
of  aldermen  and  by  the  principal  taxpayers,  f 

How  Repre-  Representatives    to    the   CortesJ    are   elected   under    the  act  of 

December  27,  1892.  Their  election  is  by  popular  vote,  one  repre- 
sentative for  every  50,000  nihabitants.  .\  voter  must  be  over 
twenty-five  years  of  age,  a  ta.xpayer  to  the  ainoinit  of  at  least  five 
dollars,  or  the   possessor  of   a    i)rofessional     diploma   or    university 

♦  Representatives  of  the  universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  have  seats  in  the 
House  c>f  Commons. 

+  Ta.xpayers  whose  taxes  are  above  a  certain  amount. 

♦  The    Spanish    Legislature    is    called    the    Cortes.       It    is    composed   of    two 
branches  :  One  is  called  the  Senate,  the  other  the  Congress  of  Deputies. 

20 


sentatives  Are 
(ilected 


degree.  The  act  prcjvicles  regulation  for  the  registration  of  voters; 
for  the  formation  of  election  boards  ;  and  for  a  secret  ballot. 

Cuba  sends  thirty  representatives  to  the  Cortes,  All  the  for- 
malities of  elections  are  similar  to  those  of  the  Peninsula. 

The  following  are  the  clauses  concerning  the  election  of 
senators  : 

Ari'iclk  I.  In  accordance  with  the  additional  clause  of  the  act  of 
February  8,  1877,  the  provinces  of  Havana  and  Porto  Rico*  shall 
each  elect  three  senators,  and  the  provinces  of  Matanzas,  Pinar  del 
Rio,  Puerto  Principe,  Santa  Clara  and  Santiago  de  Cuba  shall  each 
elect  two  senators. 

Also,  and  as  provided  therefor  by  law,  the  Archbishopric  of 
Santiago,  with  its  suffragans  and  chapters,  shall  elect  one  senator; 
the  University  of  Havana,  with  the  Institutes  and  Special  Schools 
of  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico,  shall  elect  one  senator  ;  and  the  Eco- 
nomic Societies  of  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico  one  senator.f 

The  following  are  the  provisions  concerning  the  election  of 
representatives  to  the  Cortes  : 

Article  I.  The  representatives  to  the  Cortes  shall  be  elected     Elections  by 
by  popular  vote.     The  voting  shall  be  by  sections,  into   which,  for  '**p"'"''  ^°^- 
that  purpose,  the  districts  and  circumscriptions*  now  established  in 
Cuba  and  Porto  Rico,  or  to  be  established,  shall  be  subdivided. 

After  their  admission  to  the  Cortes  they  shall,  with  the  repre- 
sentatives from  the  Peninsula,  individually  and  collectively  repre- 
sent the  nation. 

Art.  II.  One  representative  at  least  for  every  50,000  inhabitants 
shall  be  elected,  and  the  count  shall  include  the  whole  population 
without  distinction  of  races. 

Art.  III.  The  Government  is  empowered  to  determine,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  results  of  the  census  of  the  population  of  Cuba  and 
Porto  Rico,  the  number  of  representatives.  In  the  apportionment 
the  present  division  into  circumscriptions  and  districts  and  their 
subdivision  into  sections  shall  be  preserved  as  far  as  possible. 

Each  municipality  shall  constitute  :  One  section  if  the  number 
of  voters  does  not  exceed  100  ;  two  sections  if  the  number  of  voters 
does  not  exceed  200  ;  three  sections  if  the  number  of  voters  does 
not  exceed  300,  and  so  forth. 

Art.  IV.  Only  by  special  legislation  will  it  be  permissible  to 
vary  the  number  of  representatives  of  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico,  or  to 
change  the  boundaries  of  the  circumscriptions,  districts  and  sec- 
tions, and  the  seats  of  the  canvassing  boards. 


*  The  island  of  Porto  Rico  constitutes  one  province — the  province  of  Porto 
Rico.  The  island  of  Cuba  is  divided  into  six  provinces — Havana,  Matanzas,  Pinar 
del  Rio,  Santa  Clara,  Puerto  Principe  and  Santiago  de  Cuba. 

■V  A  district  elects  one  single  representative  ;  a  circumscription  elects  more  than 
one  representative,  each  voter  voting  for  all  the  representatives  from  his  circum- 
scription ;  a  section  is  a  division  of  the  district  or  circumscription  for  convenience 
in  casting  the  vote. 

•21 


Who 
Are  Eligible. 


Registration 
Essential. 


To    What   Ex- 
tent Voters 

Must  Be 
Taxpayers. 


Apportion- 
Tient  of  Taxes 

Among 
Copartners. 


Art.  V.  To  be  eligible  as  representative  to  the  Congress  it  is 
necessary  : 

First.  To  be  a  Spanish  subject*  :  to  be  a  laymanf  ;  to  have 
reached  the  age  of  twenty-five  years  before  the  day  of  election  ;  and 
to  be  in  the  enjoyment  of  all  civil  rights.  A  representative-elect 
who  has  been  born  a  subject  of  Spain,  and  has  renounced  his 
allegiance  and  again  recovered,  as  prescribed  by  law,  his  Spanish 
citizenship,  shall  prove,  in  order  to  obtain  his  seat  as  representative 
to  the  Cortes,  that  he  recovered  his  Spanish  citizenship  at  least  one 
year  before  his  election. 

Second.  To  have  been  elected  and  declared  elected  in  the  Cortes 
as  provided  by  this  act  and  by  the  rules  of  the  Cortes. 

Third.  Not  to  be  under  disability  to  obtain  the  ofifice  owing  to 
any  personal  incapacity. J 

Fourth.  Not  to  be  included  within  any  of  the  cases  specified  in 
the  law  of  incompatibilities. § 

Art,  XII.  Only  those  whose  names  shall  be  contained  in  the 
registration  lists  as  voters  on  the  day  of  election  shall  have  the 
right  to  vote  for  representatives  to  the  Cortes. 

Art.  XIII.  Every  male  Spanish  subject,  resident  of  Cuba  or  of 
Porto  Rico,  shall  have  the  right  to  have  his  name  included  in  the 
registration  lists  of  the  section  within  which  he  resides,  provided 
he  be  of  the  age  of  twenty-five  years  ;  he  be  a  taxpayer,  to  the 
amount  of  five  dollars  in  Cuba  and  ten  dollars  in  Porto  Rico,  of 
ta.xes  on  rural  or  urban  real  estate  or  of  industrial  or  commercial 
ta.xes  ;  provided  he  shows  he  pays  the  said  amount  of  taxes  at 
the  time  of  demanding  his  inscription  in  the  registration  lists.  In 
computing  the  amount  of  his  taxes  only  the  taxes-paid  to  the  state 
must  be  considered. 

Art.  XIV.  For  the  purpose  of  computing  the  amount  of  taxes 
paid  by  a  citizen  who  claims  the  right  to  vote  he  shall  be  deemed 
a  property  owner  in  the  following  cases  : 

First.  The  husband  shall  be  deemed  the  owner  of  his  wife's 
property  while  the  marriage  exists. 

Second.  The  father  shall  be  deemed  the  owner  of  his  child's 
property,  if  he  be  the  legal  administrator  of  the  child's  estate. 

Third.  If  the  legal  title  lie  in  a  son,  and  the  mother  be  the 
beneficiary,  the  son  shall  be  deemed  the  owner. 

.Art.  XV.  For  electoral  purposes  the  copartners  of  a  mercantile 
partnership  shall  be  deemed  taxpayers  of  the  taxes  paid  by  the 
partnershij),  the  taxes  being  apjiortioned  according  to  the  interest  in 
the  partnershi|-)  of  each  copartner.  If  the  respective  interest  of  each 
copartner  be  unknown  the  copartners  shall  be  deemed  to  have  an 
equal  interest.  The  existence  of  the  jKirtnership,  the  interest  of 
each  copartner,  and  the  class  of  each  copartner  shall  be  proved 
by  a  declaration  certified  by  a  notary  and  recorded  in  the  proper 
registry. 

♦  This  includes  all  persons  born  in  Spain,  Cuba,  Porto  Rico,  the  Philippine  Islands 
and  other  Spanish  possessions. 

+  Members  of  the  clergy  are  not  eligible. 

X  This  refers  to  physical  or  mental  disability,  and  to  disability  through  convic- 
tion of  a  crime,  when  the  conviction  carries  with  it  the  loss  of  political  rights. 

S  The  incompatibility  refers  to  holders  of  certain  high  office,  resignation  being 
recjuired  previous  to  seating  in  the  Cfjrtes. 

22 


Art.  XVI.  For  the  purposes  of  this  law,  when  land  is  rented  or 
land  is  cultivated  on  shares,  two-thirds  of  the  taxes  shall  be  attrib- 
uted to  the  landowner  and  one-third  to  the  tenant  or  cultivator  on 
shares.  But  the  tenancy  or  the  agreement  to  cultivate  on  shares 
must  be  proved  by  a  certificate  in  writing  recorded  in  the  proper 
registry  a  year  before  the  electit)n. 

The  notaries  public  shall  furnish  without  charge,  upon  free  stamped 
paper,*  copies  of  the  documents  to  which  this  article  and  the  fore- 
going one  refer  ;  and  the  officials  of  the  register's  office  shall  also, 
in  the  proi->er  case,  furnish  free  of  charge  and  on  like  paper  cer- 
tified copies  of  the  records  and  marginal  notes.  'l"he  object  for 
which  these  documents  are  intended  shall  be  stated  therein,  so 
that  they  may  not  be  accepted  by  courts,  district  courts  and 
(iovernment  offices  for  a  purpose  different  from  that  intended  by 
this  decree. 

Art.  XVII.  The  following  shall  also  have  the  right  to  be  in- 
cluded in  the  registration  lists,  provided  they  have  attained  tlie 
age  of  twenty-five  years  : 

1.  Members  of  the  Royal  Spanish  Academy  and  of  the  Royal 
.Academies  of  History,  of  San  Fernando,  of  Exact  Sciences,  of 
Physical  and  Natural  Sciences,  of  Moral  and  Political  Sciences,  and 
of  Medicine. 

2.  Members  of  ecclesiastical  chapters,  and  parish  priests  and 
their  curates. 

3.  Officials  of  all  the  departments  of  the  Public  Administration, 
of  the  Provincial  Assemblies  and  of  the  municipalities,  who  shall 
have  had  a  yearly  salary  of  $100  for  at  least  two  years  previous  to 
registration  ;  officials  retired  on  pensions,  whatever  be  the  pension, 
and  also  retired  heads  of  administrative  departments,  even  if  they 
be  pensionless. 

4.  General  officers  of  the  army  and  admirals  of  the  navy  on 
furlough  ;  chiefsf  and  military  and  navy  officers  retired  on  pen- 
sion ;  soldiers,  whether  officers  or  privates,  who  have  obtained  the 
Cross  of  St.  Fernando. J 

5.  Persons  who  have  obtained  a  professional  diploma  or  aca- 
tlemic  degree,  and  shall  have  resided  during  the  two  years  previous 
to  registration  within  the  limits  of  the  municipality. 

6.  Painters  and  sculptors  who  have  obtained  a  prize  in  a 
national   or  international  exhibition. 

7.  Recorders  and  clerks  of  the  court  of  the  supreme  courts  and 
of  the  superior  courts,  notaries  and  attorneys,  clerks  of  the  court 
of  district  courts  and  members  of  commercial  exchanges  who  come 
within  the  cases  specified  in  Sections  i,  2,  3  and  4  of  Art.  VI. 

Art.  XVIII.  The  right  to  vote  shall  be  denied  to  those  whose 
cases  shall  fall  within  the  contingencies  specified  in  Sections  i,  2.  3 
and  4  of  Art.  VI. 

*  Before  it  was  made  also  a  source  of  revenue  the  object  of  the  stamp  was  to  pre- 
vent forgery.  The  stamp  being  numbered,  a  referente  to  the  number  was  made  in 
the  body  of  the  document,  and  the  number  of  the  stamp  recorded  separately.  For 
some  formalities,  as  in  this  case,  the  law  dirt-cts  the  Government  to  furnish  stamped 
paper  free. 

+  In  the  Spanish  army  "jefe"  (chief)  is  a  generic  term  for  colonel,  lieutenant- 
colonel  and  major. 

t  This  cross  is  awarded  only  to  so'.diers  who  have  won  distinction  by  heroic 
deeds  in  battle. 


Certified 

Copies 

of  Records. 


Pel  sons 

Entitled  to 

Registration. 


Disqualifies' 

tions 
for  Voting. 


23 


Public  Meet- 
ings only 
Restricted    by 
Law. 


Those  who  are  referred  to  in  the  second  clause  of  Section  i. 
Art.  v.,  of  this  decree  shall  exercise  the  right  of  suffrage  only  upon 
proof  of  compliance  with  the  requirements  for  eligibility  specified 
in  that  clause. 

Art.  XIX.  The  registration  lists  shall  be  completed  in  accord- 
ance with  the  foregoing  provisions,  and  when  so  completed  they 
shall  constitute  the  standing  electoral  census. 

VI. 

PUBLIC  MEETINGS  AND  ASSOCIATIONS. 

Article  XIII.  of  the  Constitution  gives  the  people  the  rights  peace- 
ably to  assemble  and  to  form  associations.  Of  these  rights  no  one 
may  be  deprived,  unless  the  safety  of  the  state  require  it,  and  the 
deprivation  must  be  by  virtue  of  some  law,  and  only  of  a  temporary 
nature.  To  enforce  this  article  of  the  Constitution  the  Cortes 
passed  two  laws  for  the  Peninsula  :  one,  the  act  of  June  15,  1880, 
to  regulate  the  right  of  public  meeting,  and  the  other,  the  act  of 
June  30,  1887,  concerning  the  right  of  association.  By  royal  decrees 
of  November  i,  1881,  and  of  June  12,  1888,  these  laws  were  extended 
to  the  island  of  Cuba. 

The  act  regulating  the  right  of  peaceable  assembly  requires  that 
the  governor  of  the  province  in  which  a  public  meeting  is  to  be  held 
be  given  twenty-four  hours'  previous  notice  of  the  time  and  place 
of  holding  the  meeting;  it  defines  the  meaning  of  "peaceable 
assembly";  it  directs  that  a  representative  of  the  Government  may 
be  present  at  the  meeting  ;  and  enumerates  the  cases  in  which  the 
meeting  may  be  suppressed. 

The  act  regulating  the  right  of  association  refers  to  religious, 
political,  scientific,  social,  artistic  and  eleemosynary  associations, 
and  to  any  other  association  not  intended  for  purposes  of  profit.     It 

Scope  of  the     igfers    also    to   guilds,    mutual    aid    societies,    associations   of   em- 
Law. 

ployers  for  the  protection  of  employees,  and  to  co-operative  asso- 
ciations. This  law  does  not  refer  to  religious  societies  of  the 
Catholic  Church  authorized  by  the  Concordat*  with  the  Pope.  It 
does  not  refer  to  mercantile  associations,  these  being  regulated  by 
other  sections  of  the  Civil  Code  or  by  the  Commercial  Code,  nor  to 
institutions  and  corporations  created  or  governed  by  special  legis- 
lation. 

This  act  regulates  the  organization  of  associations,  governs  their 

relations  with  the  state,  and  provides  an  office  for  their  registration. 

The  decree   extending   this  act  to  the  island  of  Cuba    made  no 

noteworthy  change  in  the  law  except  in  the  clause  referring  to  relig. 

ious  associations  under  the  Concordat. 


Associations 

w  hich 

Come  within 

the 


•  An  agreement  between  the  Roman  See  and  a  secular  government  relative  to 
matters  that  concern  both. 


24 


vn. 

THE  GOVERNOR-GENERAL. 


The   (lovernor-General  is  the  highest   official  of  ilie    island    of 
Cuba.     He  is  tlie  supreme  representative  of  the  (lovernment.     His 


Attributes 
of 
,.,      ,    ,  ,  ^    ,,  the  Qovernor- 

povvers,   except    as  now  niodilied  by  tlie  act  of  March  15,   1S95,  are        Oenerai. 
contained  in  the  followinij  text  : 


Jvova/  Decree  of  j'unc  9,  1S7S.* 

On  motion  of  the  Minister  of  the  Colonies,  and  with  the  con- 
currence of  the  Council  of  r^linisters,  1  decree  as  follows: 

Article  I.  The  Governor-General  is  the  highest  official  repre- 
senting the  National  Government  in  the  island  of  Cuba.  He  is  the 
delegate  of  the  Ministers  of  the  Colonies,  of  State,  of  ^^'ar,  and  of 
the  Navy.  He  has,  moreover,  as  vice-royal  patron,  the  powers 
inherent  to  the  patronship  of  the  Indies,  agreeably  with  the  papal 
bulls  and  the  laws  of  the  kingdom.  His  authority  extends  over 
all  that  conduces  to  the  maintenance  of  the  public  peace,  the  preserv- 
ation of  the  territory,  the  execution  of  the  laws,  and  the  protection 
of  life  and  property. 

He  is  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy  of  the 
island  and  controls  tlie  forces  on  land  and  sea,  subject  to  the  army 
and  navy  regulations.  All  the  other  authorities  of  the  island  are 
subordinate  to  him. 

Art.  II.  His  duties  are  : 

First.  To  publish  and  execute,  in  the  provinces  under  his  charge, 
the  laws,  decrees  and  orders,  and  the  instructions  of  the  Minister 
whose  delegate  he  is,  and  the  treaties  and  international  conventions. 
To  communicate,  concerning  foreign  affairs,  with  her  Majesty's 
consuls  and  diplomatic  agents  in  America. 

Second.  To  supervise  and  inspect  all  the  branches  of  the  state 
service  in  the  island,  and  report  to  the  Ministers  he  represents  con- 
cerning their  respective  departments. 

Third.  To  grant  pardons  whenever  the  urgency  and  gravity  of 
the  case  and  the  impossibility  of  communication  with  the  Peninsula* 
prevent  him  from  consulting  by  letter  or  by  telegraph  upon  the 
necessity  and  propriety  of  granting  the  pardon,  in  accordance  with 
the  orders  of  May  29,  1S55,  and  the  orders  subsequent  thereto. 

Fourth.  To  apply,  after  previous  deliberation  with  the  Council 
of  Authorities,];  when  extraordinary  events,  due  to  foreign  or  do- 
mestic causes  which  may  menace  or  imjiair  the  security  and  defense 
of  the  land,  occur,  and  when  consultation  with  the  Supreme  Gov- 
ernment would  be  dilatory,  the  law  of  April  17,  1821,  or  the  Law  of 
Public  Peace,  the  latter  law  not  being  allowed  to  limit  his  powers 
under  the  former. 


*  Promulgated  after  the  Zanjon  Treaty. 

+  Spain  proper  is  termed  by  Spaniards  ••  the  Peninsula,"  to  distinguish  it  from 
Cuba,  Ported  Rico  and  the  Philippine  Islands,  which  are  also  "Spain." 
X  For  Council  of  Authorities  see  Art.  XII.  of  this  law. 


His  DutiM. 


Fifth.  When  resolutions  of  the  Madrid  Government  may  occa- 
sion material  or  moral  perturbations  or  seriously  endanger  the 
public  welfare,  owing  to  events  that  might  occur  upon  such  reso- 
lutions becoming  known  in  the  island,  or  owing  to  reasons  the  Gov- 
ernment may  not  have  taken  into  consideration,  the  Governor- 
General  may  suspend  them.  To  decree  such  suspension  the  Council 
of  Authorities  must  be  heard,  and  notice  of  the  suspension  given  to 
the  Government  as  speedily  as  possible. 

Sixth.  To  suspend  for  the  same  reasons  the  execution  of  the 
decisions  of  inferior  ofificials,  although  such  decisions  might  be 
within  the  powers  of  such  ofificials,  and  would  under  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances be' enforcible,  explaining  to  the  proper  Minister  the 
motives  of  the  suspension,  so  that  the  matter  may  receive  its  due 
solution. 
Other  Art.  III.  It  is  incumbent  also   upon   the  Cxovernor-General,  as 

Obligations,     supreme  chief  of  all  the  civil  branches  of  the  public  administration  : 

First.  To  keep  each  branch  of  the  public  administration  within 
the  limits  of  its  powers,  as  fixed  by  law. 

Second.  To  publish  edicts  and  take  measures  for  the  fulfillment 
of  the  laws  and  regulations  and  for  the  government  of  the  island, 
giving  notice  thereof  to  the  Minister  of  the  Colonies. 

Third.  To  propose  to  the  Government  measures  to  promote  the 
moral  and  material  welfare  of  the  island,  if  such  measures  be  not 
within  the  cognizance  of  the  provincial  or  municipal  authorities  and 
corporations. 

Fourth.  To  determine  the  penal  institutions  in  which  sentences 
shall  be  served,  and  to  order  the  incarceration  therein  of  convicts  ; 
and  to  designate  also  the  jail  liberties,  when  the  courts  may  order 
confinement  therein. 

Fifth.  To  suspend  delinquent  public  associations  and  munici- 
pal corporations. 

Sixth.  To  order  provincial  governors  to  fine  public  function- 
aries and  municipal  corporations. 

Seventh.  To  suspend,  for  cause  justified  by  memorial,  any  public 
ofificial  whose  appointment  pertains  to  the  Supreme  Government,  giv- 
ing the  Government  immediate  notice  of  such  suspension,  and  to  fill 
tro  tempore  \.\\^\7s.C2iX\cy  in  accordance  with  the  regulations  now  exist- 
ing or  hereafter  to  be  provided. 

Eighth.  To  grant  or  deny  his  permission  to  indict  public  offi- 
cials, as  provided  by  law. 

Art.  IV.  The  Governor-General  shall  exercise  all  the  other 
functions  of  government  that  the  laws  may  direct  or  that  the  Supreme 
Government  may  delegate  to  him. 

.\rt.  V.  The  Governor-General  shall  communicate  directly  with 
the  Ministers  whose  delegate  and  re|:)resentati\e  he  is.  The  tleiKirt- 
mental  authcjrities  shall  communicate  through  him  with  their 
respective  Ministers. 

Art.  \T.  The  (iovernor  General  may  modify  or  revoke  his  de- 
cisions or  those  of  his  predecessors,  unless  they  have  been  confirmed 
by  the  Ciovernment,  or  have  vested  rights,  or  have  served  as  a  basis 
for  a  judgment  in  a  criminal  or  civil  trial.  Of  his  own  motion  he 
shall  not  mcnlify  or  revoke  his  decision,  when  he  bases  the  decision 
upon  the  limitation  of  his  powers,  or  when  the  decision  grants  or 
denies  permission  for  an  indictment. 

20 


Art.  VII.  A  decision  of  the  Goveriior-deneral  of  a  ministerial 
nature,  or  in  a  matter  lying  within  his  discretion,  or  when  it  assumes 
a  reglamentary  character,  may  be  revoked  or  modified  by  the 
Supreme  Government,  whenever  the  latter  may  judge  such  deci- 
sion contrary  to  the  laws  or  general  regulations,  or  injurious  to  the 
government  and  good  administration  of  the  island.  His  decision 
may  also  be  revoked  or  modified  on  the  appeal  of  a  citizen  deeming 
himself  injured  in  his  rights,  provided  the  citizen  be  not  recpiired  by 
law  to  obtain  his  remedy  by  proceedings  before  the  council,  before 
a  municipal  corporation,  or  before  the  Governor-General  himself. 

Art.  VIII.  Objection  to  a  decision  of  the  Governor-(ieneral 
which  determines  the  status  of  property  must  be  before  the  mi.xed 
judicial  and  administrative  court,  as  provided  by  law. 

Art.  IX.  The  Governor-General  shall  be  appointed  by  royal 
decree  issued  by  the  President  of  the  Council  of  Ministers,  upon 
the  proposition  of  the  Minister  of  the  Colonies. 

Art.  X.  He  shall  not  surrender  his  charge  nor  absent  himself 
from  the  island  without  the  express  order  of  the  Government. 

Art.  XI.  In  case  of  the  death  of  the  Governor-General,  his 
absence  from  the  island,  or  inability  to  discharge  the  powers  and 
duties  of  his  office,  the  same  shall  devolve  upon  the  Military  Gov- 
ernor until  the  Government  appoint  -Si pro  tevipore  substitute. 

If  the  absence  be  only  from  the  capital  of  the  island  he  shall 
continue  discharging  his  duties  from  whatever  place  he  may  be  in, 
and  in  matters  of  a  ministerial  nature,  or  matters  within  his  exclusive 
competence,  he  may  delegate  his  powers  over  each  department  to 
the  respective  heads  thereof,  but  if  the  matter  be  within  the  com- 
petence of  the  Supreme  Government  its  transaction  rfiust  be  through 
the  Military  Governor. 

Art.  XII.  The  Council  of  Superior  Authorities,  whose  opinion 
in  accordance  with  this  decree  the  Governor-General  must  consult, 
is  composed  :  of  the  Bishop  of  Havana,  or  the  Archbishop  of  San- 
tiago de  Cuba,  if  the  latter  be  present  ;  the  Chief  of  the  Xaval 
Station  ;  the  Military  Governor  ;  the  heads  of  the  departments  of 
Justice,  of  Finance,  and  of  the  Interior  ;  and  the  Attorney-General. 

If,  in  the  judgment  of  the  (rovernor-General,  the  nature  of  the 
matters  before  the  council  requires  the  presence  of  the  Provincial 
Governor  the  Governor-General  may  summon  the  Provincial  Gov- 
ernor and  give  him  a  vote  in  the  council. 

The  nature  of  this  council  is  advisory.  Its  resolutions  shall  be 
drawn  up  in  writing,  signed  by  the  members  present,  and  certified  to 
by  the  Secretary  of  the  General  Government,  and  inserted  in  a  book 
provided  for  the  purpose.  A  copy  of  each  resolution  shall  be  pro- 
vided for  each  signatory,  another  for  the  Minister  of  the  Colonies, 
and  a  copy  for  the  Minister  within  whose  department  the  matter 
treated  of  may  fall.  The  Governor-General  is  free  to  follow  or  dis- 
regard the  advice  of  the  council.  Kut  following  the  advice  of  the 
council  does  not  exempt  him  from  the  full  responsibility  for  his  acts. 

Art.  XIII.  All  decrees  inconsistent  with  tlie  present  decree  are 
hereby  revoked. 

Done  in  the  Palace,  January  9,   1S78. 

.\l.FONSO. 

The  Minister  of  the  Colonies, 

Ti/iSE   ElJH  AVF.N. 


.Teans 

of 

Redress. 


How 

the  Qovernor- 

General   is 

Appointed. 


In  Case  of 

Death. 

Absence  or 

Inability. 


Council 

of 

Authorities. 


The  Council 

i5 

Advisory. 


27 


Divided 
Into  Six  ProV' 


vin. 

PROVINCIAL    ADMINISTRATION. 

In  1878,  the  island  having  but  recently  been  completely  pacified, 
the  Spanish  Government  deemed  the  time  opportune  to  establish  in 
Cuba  the  laws  that  under  the  Constitution  of  Spain  gave  all  Spanish 
subjects  equal  rights.  The  mother  country  bore  in  mind  that  the 
growing  extension  and  importance  of  the  foreign  trade  of  Cuba  and 
its  scientific  and  literary  advances  called  for  means  of  government 
different  from  those  which  had  obtained.  The  state  of  revolt  of  the 
island,  however,  had  made  reform  inadvisable. 
The  island  By  a  royal  decree  of  June  9  of  the  same  year  the  island,  for  the 

purpose  of  administrative  reorganization,  was  divided  into  six  prov- 
inces, inces,  with  a  provincial  governor  for  each  province. 

Another  decree  of  June  21  of  that  year  ordered  the  application, 
provisipnally,  in  the  island  of  Cuba  of  the  organic  provincial  and 
municipal  laws  of  1870  of  the  Peninsula.  These  laws  were  made 
by  a  democratic  Covernment*  and  slightly  modified  afterward. 
They  determine  all  that  which  pertains  to  the  civil  administration 
of  the  Cuban  provinces,  to  the  organization,  powers,  and  responsi- 
bilities of  the  provincial  assemblies,  and  of  the  provincial  officials, 
and  to  the  estimates  and  accounts  of  the  assemblies.  Essentially 
the  administration  of  the  Cuban  provinces  is  the  same  as  that  of 
the  provinces  of  the  Peninsula. 

IX. 

MUNICIPAL   ADMINISTRATION. 

The  organization  of  municipalities  in  Cuba  was  regulated  by  the 
royal  decree  of  July  27,  1859.  Each  municipality  was  provided 
with  a  board  of  aldermen  for  the  administration  of  its  affairs.  Sub- 
sequently the  decree  was  modified  in  some  of  its  clauses  by  several 
other  decrees,  among  these  the  royal  decree  of  November  25,  1863, 
which  (jrganized  the  superior  civil  government  of  Havana,  and  the 
regulation  of  January  30.  1866,  concerning  the  exercise  of  the  pow- 
ers appertaining  to  the  civil  governor  of  the  province  of  Havana, 
in  his  double  capacity  of  governor  of  the  province  and  of  president 
of  the  board  of  ahk^rmen  of  the  city,  and  with  respect  to  the  func- 
tions of  the  board. 
Municipal  Somcwliat  modified,  the  organic  municipal   law  of  the  Peninsula 

Law   (extended        /•/~»..i-  n  ii,..,,  ,. 

of  October  2,  1877,  was  extended   to  Cuba   bv   the  roval   decree  of 


Cuba. 


*  In  I'CO  Spain  was  de  fiuto  a  republic. 

28 


June  21,  1S78.  These  modifications  refer  to  the  number  of  alder- 
men of  each  board  and  to  the  powers  of  the  Governor-General 
in  appointing  mayors.  Each  mayor  is  appointed  by  the  Governor- 
General  from  three  nominees  presented  by  the  board  of  aldermen. 
The  Governor-General  may  disregard  the  nominations  of  the  boards 
and  appoint  as  mayors  persons  not  forming  part  of  the  municipali- 
ties. He  also  appoints  assistant  mayors,  upon  the  nominations  of 
the  boards,  the  nominations  being  made  in  the  same  manner  as  m 
the  case  of  the  mayors.  The  nominees,  however,  must  be  members 
of  the  boards.    .The  salaries  of  mayors  are  municipal  charges. 

To  recapitulate,  the  Governor-General  exercises  the  functions 
which  pertain  by  the  law  of  the  Peninsula  to  the  Supreme  Govern- 
ment, although  with  more  amplitude.  This  amplitude  is  due  to  two 
reasons  :  First,  to  the  slight  experience  of  the  Cuban  people  in  pub- 
lic affairs  ;  and,  second,  to  the  necessity,  on  account  of  the  distance 
of  the  island  from  the  Peninsula  and  the  desire  of  avoiding  expense 
and  delay,  of  insuring  freedom  of  action  to  the  superior  authority  in 
the  solution  of  local  problems. 


PUBLIC    PEACE. 

The  law  of  public  peace  of  the  Peninsula  of  April  23,  1873,  is  in   suspension  of 
force  also  in  Cuba.     It  is  applicable  only  after  the  suspension  of  Constitutional 
constitutional   rights  as  provided   by    the    Constitution.     With    re-         '^ 
spect  to   the  suspension  of  constitutional   rights   the  present  Con- 
stitution is  the  same  as  the  democratic  Constitution  of  1809.* 

This  law  gives  the  civil  authorities  extraordinary  powers  :  To 
arrest  citizens  ;  to  stop  any  publication  ;  to  disperse  crowds,  using 
force  after  the  third  request  to  disperse  ;  to  exile  citizens  ;  to  com- 
pel a  citizen  to  change  his  residence  ;  and  to  enter  private  dwellings 
without  warrant. 

If  these  extraordinary  powers  prove  insufficient  the  civil  authori-         When 
ties   mav    surrender  their  powers   to  the  militarv  authorities,  and  a   Military  Rule 

'    .  -  Can  Be 

state  of  siege  may  be  proclaimed.  Proclaimed. 

Thereupon  ordinary  crimes  are  tried  before  the  civil  courts,  but 
crimes  of  a  seditious  nature  are  tried  before  a  court  martial. 

But  under  the  protocol  of  January  7,  1877,  between  Spain  antl 
the  United  States,  citizens  of  the  United  States  must  be  tried 
before  the  civil  courts,  unless  captured  in  arms. 

*  This  Constitution  was  promulgated  under  the  Je  facto  republic  which  was 
estabhshed  after  the  fall  of  Queen  Isabel  II.  in  I'^OS. 

29 


XL 

DEPARTMENT  OF  JUSTICE. 

Juris=  The  metropolis  has  ever  given  its  constant  attention  to  this  im- 

prudence. ^       ^   J  A. 

portant  department. 

The  early  laws  for  the  Indies  contained  wise  and  minute  regula- 
tions for  the  administration  of  justice.  For  the  same  purpose 
numerous  measures  have  been  taken  of  late  years.  Among  these 
are  the  royal  decrees  of  January  30,  1855  ;  of  April  12,  1875  ;  of 
May  23,  1S79;  of  January  15,  1884,  and  of  May  24,  1885. 

At  present  the  Revised  Statutes  of  January  5,  1891,  obtain. 
They  contain,  in  methodical  arrangement,  the  organic  law  of  the 
Department  of  Justice  for  the  colonial  provinces  and  possessions. 
They  refer  to  the  division  into  judicial  districts  ;  to  the  appoint- 
ment and  promotion  of  magistrates,  judges,  state  attorneys  and 
clerks  of  the  courts  ;  to  the  judicial  responsibility  ;  to  the  jurisdic- 
tions of  the  various  courts  ;  to  the  inspection  of  the  administration 
of  justice  ;  to  the  legal  profession  ;  and  to  all  matters  pertaining  to 
the  judicial  organization  and  hierarchy. 

The  Departments  of  Justice  of  the  Peninsula  and  of  Cuba  form 
an  integral  whole,  the  functionaries  thereof  being  assimilated. 
Administra-  There  are  in  Cuba  three  territorial   superior  courts,  of  both  civil 

tiono     ustice   ^j^^  criminal  jurisdiction,  those  of   Havana,   Santiago  de  Cuba,  and 

in  Cuba.  J  '  t  e>  > 

Matanzas  ;  three  superior  courts,  of  criminal  jurisdiction  only,  those 
of  Puerto  Principe,  Santa  Clara  and  Pinar  de  Rio  ;  and  thirty-six 
inferior  courts,  of  both  criminal  and  civil  jurisdiction,  six  in  the  city 
of  Havana,  two  in  the  city  of  Matanzas,  two  in  the  city  of  Santiago 
de  Cuba,  and  one  in  each  of  the  follov/ing  towns  :  Bejucal,  Guana- 
bacoa,  Giiines,  Jaruco,  Marianao,  San  Antonio  de  los  Baiios,  Puerto 
Principe,  Moron,  Canerias,  Alfonso  XH.,  Colon,  Pinar  del  Rio, 
Ciuanajay,  Guanes,  San  Cristobal,  Santa  Clara.  Cienfuegos,  Sagua  la 
Grande,  San  Juan  de  los  Remedios,  Sancti-Spiritu,  Trinidad, 
Baracoa,  Bayamo,  Guantanamo,  Holguin  and  Manzanillo. 

xn. 

CIVIL  RIGHTS. 

Cuba  Enjoyi  In  this  branch  of  tiie  law  tlie  assiniihilion  between  Cuba  and  the 

kiKhu'Ts      Peninsula  has  been  constant.     The  same  substantive  law  and  law  of 
>pain.         jirocedure  obtains  in  both  countries. 

Shortly  after  its  promulgation  the  Civil  Code  now  in  force  in 
the  Peninsula  was,  by  the  royal  decree  of  July  31,  1889,  integrally 
applied  to  the  island  of  Cuba. 

30 


Thus  Cubans  were  made  participants  in  '"an  evident  antl  extremely 
beneficent  advance,"  for  the  Civil  Code,  as  is  felicitously  stated  in 
the  preaml)le  to  the  aforesaid  royal  decree,  "  reduces  to  one  source 
the  numerous  dissimilar  and  conflicting  fountains  of  the  old  Spanish 
civil  law,  modifies  in  a  rational  manner  the  law  of  inheritance,  illu- 
mines and  improves  the  law  of  personal  rights  and  in  general,  with 
tradition  as  a  basis,  includes  and  regulates  all  classes  of  personal 
rights  in  a  form  that  is  more  rational,  more  systematic  and  scien- 
tific than  that  effected  by  the  laws  which  in  so  valuable  and  abun- 
dant a  series  have  been  bequeathed  to  us  by  former  centuries." 

And  the  Minister,  I).  Manuel  Becerra,  who  subscribes  this  docu- 
ment, adds  : 

"  Neither  in  the  Spanish  West  Indies  nor  in  the  Philippine 
Islands  is  the  civil  law  special  or  different  from  that  which  has 
been  in  force  in  the  Peninsula,  nor  does  the  organization  of  the 
family  and  of  property  in  those  remote  provinces  demand  any  spe- 
cialty in  legislation  for  an  existence  whose  evolution  is  exactly  the 
same  as  that  of  the  rest  of  the  nation,  because  those  peoples, 
although  they  have  a  genius  proper  to  themselves  and  in  some 
respects  different  from  that  of  the  people  of  Spain,  adapted  them- 
selves long  ago  to  the  Spanish  law,  brought  to  them  by  the  con- 
querors and  missionaries. 

"  There  ex'sts  therefore  no  danger  of  carrying  to  those  countries 
rash  innovations  that  might  prove  unwholesome  to  those  communi- 
ties, or  changes  that  may  be  injurious  to  property,  the  title  to  which 
is  acquired,  maintained  and  alienated  in  the  manner  established  by 
the  old  Spanish  legislation,  and  that  does  not  give  rise  to  forms 
unknown  among  us  and  which  it  would  be  necessary  to  sanction  by 
the  law.  And  so  the  Colonial  Committee  on  Codes  made  manifest 
to  his  Majesty's  Government,  when  the  Civil  Code  was  discussed 
in  the  Chambers,  the  propriety  of  extending  it  to  the  colonial  prov- 
inces as  soon  as  it  became  law,  without  amendment  either  in  the 
substance  or  in  the  form.     ' 

"  And  if  it  be  indubitable  that  his  Majesty  may  cherish  the  sat- 
isfaction of  considering  the  enrichment  of  the  nation  with  a  civil 
code,  that  with  so  much  anxiety  and  for  so  long  a  time  it  has  solic- 
ited, as  a  happy  event  of  his  reign,  no  less  indubitable  is  it  that  this 
sentiment  of  pure  and  elevating  satisfaction  will  grow  stronger  and 
larger  by  extending  the  code  to  the  colonial  provinces,  which  with 
respect  to  this  class  of  legislation  have  suffered  the  same  inconven- 
iences and  will  obtain  the  same  advantages  as  the  Peninsula. 

"  No  constituent  element  of  society  knits  a  people  together  and 
binds  them  in  the  bosom  of  a  common  culture  as  the  unity  of  legis- 
lation, and  particularly  of  the  civil  law,  which  deals  exclusively  with 
the  intimate  relations  of  the  lives  and  liberties  of  men. 

31 


"And  if  Spain  was  ever  inspired  in  her  policy  toward  the  nations 
she  ruled  in  another  hemisphere  by  the  lofty  purposes  of  a  pater- 
nalism, which  was  quickly  to  induce  them  to  form  a  component 
part  of  this  sublime  and  harmonious  unity  of  the  fatherland  ;  if 
Spain  never  applied  to  them  a  utilitarian  and  selfish  system  of  gov- 
ernment ;  if  our  history  is  filled  with  monuments  that  attest  how  the 
mother  country  never  bartered  away  her  desire  generously  to  uplift 
and  to  draw  to  her  bosom  the  inhabitants  of  the  colonies,  and  to 
educate  and  rule  them  as  she  educated  and  ruled  herself  ;  and  if,  as 
a  happy  result  of  this  beneficent  and  self-sacrificing  policy,  the  most 
important  advantage  that  may  be  derived  from  legislation,  which  is 
identicalness  in  civil  law,  was  established,  it  is  both  rational  and 
politic  to  preserve  that  identicalness,  maintaining  thus  our  title  to 
honor  and  securing  the  most  priceless  benefit  that  a  nation  can  offer 
the  peoples  it  rules,  and  which  consists  in  establishing  equality 
before  the  law  and  granting  to  all  the  subject  nations  the  sum  of 
the  rights  which  she  herself  enjoys." 

The  Civil  Procedure  Act  of  September  25,  1885,  of  the  Peninsula 
is  also  in  force  in  Cuba.  That  law  regulates  the  proceedings  before 
both  superior  and  inferior  courts  and  the  appeal  to  the  Supreme 
Court  at  Madrid. 


xm. 

THE  LAW  MERCHANT. 

Various  Laws         By  a  royal  decree  of  February  i,  1832,  the   Commercial  Code  of 
ing'^and        ^^"9  ^"*^  ^^^^  Code  of  Commercial  Procedure  of  1830  were  extended 
Kecuiating     to  Cuba.     The   law  of  June  30,  1878,  modified  some  clauses  of  the 


Commerce. 


Commercial  Code  and  suppressed  others.  This  law  was  extended 
to  Cuba  by  the  royal  decree  of  November  i,  1878. 

The  act  of  November,  1869,  now  in  force  in  the  Peninsula,  con- 
cerning the  bankruptcy  of  railway  and  public  works  companies,  was 
extended  to  Cuba  on  August  12,  1881, 

'i'he  Commercial  Code  of  August  22,  1885,  of  the  Peninsula  was 
also  extended  to  Cuba  by  a  royal  decree  of  January  28,  1886.  Thus 
was  the  greatest  freedom  for  commercial  transactions  granted  to  the 
island  of  Cuba. 

On  August  16,  187S,  a  regulation  for  the  organization  of  stock 
companies  in  the  colonial  j^rovinces  was  approved.  A  royal  decree 
of  the  same  date  ordered  that  banks  of  issue  and  discount  be 
governed  by  that  regulation.  ruder  that  decree  a  bank  was 
established  for  the  island  of  Cuba  and  was  given  the  monopoly  of 
the    issue    of    l)ank   notes.     This    bank    is  similar   to  the   Bank    of 


Spain,  ill  the  Peninsula,  and  is  governed  by  an  administrator,  a 
governor  and  two  vice-governors,  all  appointed  by  the  Supreme 
Government. 

XIV. 

nORTQAQES. 

By  a   royal    decree    of  May   i6,   1879,    the    Law    of    Mortgages        Reforms 
that  obtains  in  the  Peninsula  was  extended  to  Cuba.     'I'his  act  went       Adopted, 
into  operation  on  May  i,  1880.     Some  changes  had  been  made  in  the 
law,  but  they  gave  undesirable  results. 

To  avoid  these  undesirable  results,  and  to  harmonize  this  act 
with  the  Civil  Code,  which  had  been  subsequently  introduced  in 
1889,  and  with  other  existing  laws,  the  act  was  modified  by  the  law 
of  July  14,  1893. 

This  last  act  provides  facilities  for  the  registration  o(  land 
titles,  guaranteeing  their  ownership,  and  cheapening  the  registra- 
tion of  small  holdings  ;  it  gives  the  seller  of  agricultural  machinery 
and  implements  a  lien  for  the  full  purchase  price  upon  the  articles 
sold,  and,  with  the  consent  of  the  buyer,  a  lien  upon  the  latter's 
land  ;  it  also  simplifies  the  foreclosure  of  mortgages,  and  so  forth. 

There  are  in  Cuba  twenty-five  land  registry  offices,  situated  in 
the  following  towns  :  Havana,  Cardenas,  Matanzas,  Pinar  del  Rio, 
Bejucal,  Cienfuegos,  Guanajay,  Puerto  Principe,  Santa  Clara, 
Santiago  de  Cuba,  Trinidad,  Sagua  la  Grande,  Alfonso  XII., 
Baracoa,  Bayamo,  Colon,  Guanabacoa,  Guines,  Holguin,  Jaruco, 
Manzanillo,  San  Antonio  de  los  Baiios,  San  Cristobal,  San  Juan  de 
los  Remedios  and  Sancti-Spiritu. 

XV, 

REGISTRY  AND  CIVIL  HARRIAQE. 

The  royal  decree  of  January  8,  1884,  and  the  regulation  of  Civil  Registry 
November  8  of  the  same  year  extended  to  Cuba  and  to  Porto  Rico 
the  act  of  June  17,  1870,  with  some  modifications  due  to  the  pecu- 
liarities of  those  islands.  This  act  regulates  civil  registry  in  the 
Peninsula,  and  ordains  all  that  which  pertains  to  the  civil  status* 
of  citizens. 

The  parish  records  were  transcribed  to  the  register,!  and  provi- 
sional inscriptions  were  made  in  cases  in  which  citizens  were  unable 
to  exhibit  certificates  of  birth. 


*  Civil  status  {esiaJo  civil)  is  the  e'taC  ciz'il  oi  the  French.  It  means  the  civil  con- 
dition of  a  citizen  with  respect  to  being  of  age  or  under  age,  married  or  unmarried, 
legitimate  or  illegitimate. 

+  This  register  corresponds  to  the  American  bureaus  of  vital  statistics,  which 
keep  a  record  of  births,  deaths  and  marriages. 

3a 


Act   Extended 
to  Cuba. 


This  act  became  a  valuable  protection  to  the  freedom  of  emanci- 
pated slaves,  and  is  a  proof  of  the  honesty  with  which  the  laws  for 
the  abolition  of  slavery  in  Cuba  were  enforced. 
Civil  narriage  The  Civil  Marriage  Act  of   the    Peninsula  of  June  i8,  1870,  and 

the  royal  decree  of  February  9,  1875,  modifying  this  act,  are  a  de- 
velopment of  Art.  XI.  of  the  Constitution,  which  guarantees  freedom 
of  worship.* 

The  Constitution  having  been  proclaimed  in  Cuba  and  Porto 
Rico  on  April  7,  1881,  the  Marriage  Act  and  decree  aforesaid  were 
necessarily  extended  to  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico.  This  gave  all  resi- 
dents of  these  islands,  Spanish  subjects  and  foreigners  alike,  the 
right,  irrespective  of  their  religious  faith,  to  contract  matrimony. 

Spain  has  ever  furthered  the  social  needs  of  the  dwellers  within 
her  boundaries.  Thus  the  royal  order  of  December  16,  1792,  pro- 
vided a  form  of  civil  marriage  and  registry  for  the  marital  unions 
contracted  in  the  territories  of  Florida  and  Louisiana,  at  that  time 
Spanish  possessions,  between  Protestants,  or  between  Catholics  and 
Protestants. 

The  provisions  of  Chapter  III.  of  the   Civil  Code  of  October  6, 

1888,  concerning  civil  marriage,  which  obtain  in  the  Peninsula,  were 
extended   to   Cuba   and   Porto  Rico  by  the  royal  decree  of  July  31. 

1889,  and  now  obtain  in  those  islands. 


XVI. 

NOTARIES.f 

From   the  time  of  the  laws  for  the  Indies  notaryships  in  Cuba 
were  gifts  within  the  grant  of  the   C'rown,  the  duties  thereof  being 
discharged  by  the  grantee  or  his  deputy. 
Notary-ships  By  the  Ect   of   Match  3,  1873,  the   Government  was  ordered   to 

regulate  notaryships  in  the  colonies  in  accordance  with  the  law  of 
May  28,  1862,  which  obtained  in  the  Peninsula,  and  which  was  one  of 
the  best  in  Kurope.  The  present  law  of  notaryships  for  Cuba  and 
Porto  Rico  was  proclaimed  on  October  29,  1874.  It  is  adapted  to 
the  special  needs  of  those  islands,  and  is  based  upon  the  experience 
obtained  by  the  working  of  tiie  law  in  tlie  Peninsula.  It  has  exalted 
the  office  of  notary  into  a  profession,  and  divickul  the  territory  into 
notarial  districts,  therci)y  facilitating  tiie  making  of  contracts. 

♦  Formerly  only  canonical  marriages  (i.  e.,  marriages  solemni/.ed  under  the  rites 
of  the  Church  of  Rome)  were  recognized.  The  Constitution  having  established 
religious  toleration  this  law  recognizes  the  validity  of  non-Catholic  marriages. 

+  In  Spanish  countries,  as  in  France,  tlie  notary  is  an  important  official,  whose 
functions  iDc4ude  conveyancing,  &c. 

34 


Regulated. 


xvn. 


Code  of  5pain 

Extended  to 

Cuba. 


CRIMINAL    LAW. 

Until  the  year  1878  the  old  penal  laws  of  Spain  were  applied  m 
Cuba,  the  courts  being  allowed  in  certain  cases  to  mitigate  the 
harshness  of  the  law. 

A  Spanish  democratic  legislature  passed  a  Penal  Code  on  June  17,   Revised  Pcnai 
1870.     That  code,  as  subsequently  amended  at  the  suggestions  of  a 
revising  commission  of  jurists,  now  obtains  in  the  Peninsula.     With 
its  amendments  it  was  extended   to  the   island  of  Cuba  by  a  royal 
decree  of  May  2;^,  1879. 

In  establishing  in  Cuba  the  Penal  Code  of  the  mother  country 
no  alteration  was  introduced  in  the  text  except  such  changes  as 
were  required  by  the  exigencies  of  the  conditions  peculiar  to  the 
colonial  provinces,  and  the  innovations  demanded  by  the  Constitu- 
tion, the  proclamation  of  the  Constitution  having  been  subsequent 
to  that  of  the  Code  of  the  Peninsula.  The  chief  modifications  are 
due  to  the  necessity  of  provitling  the  Governor-General  with  powers 
analogous  to  those  of  the  Supreme  Government  of  the  Peninsula  ; 
to  the  absolute  inapplicability  of  the  law,  as  in  the  case  of  offenses 
committed  in  the  Royal  Palace,  or  in  the  Houses  of  Parliament  at 
Madrid  ;  to  the  difference  in  climate  ;  and  to  the  necessity  of  secur- 
ing the  right  of  masters  over  their  slaves*  and  freedmen.f  Cuba  has 
now  a  criminal  code  upon  a  scientific  basis  and  in  accordance,  in 
the  matter  of  crimes  and  penalties,  with  the  teachings  of  modern 
schools  of  criminalogists. 

Rules  of  criminal  procedure  were  established  for  the  application 
of  this  code,  and  an  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court  at  Madrid  pro- 
vided. Thus  the  criminal  law  of  the  colonies  was  assimilated  to 
that  of  the  Peninsula,  and  the  natives  of  Cuba  were  conceded  the 
protection  of  appeal  to  the  highest  tribunal  of  the  kingdom. 

Moreover,  by  the  royal  decree  of  October  19,  1878,  the  Criminal 
Procedure  Act  of  September  14,  1882,  which  obtains  in  the  Penin- 
sula, with  some  amendments  suggested  by  the  Colonial  Committee 
on  Codes,  was  extended  to  Cuba.  This  act  establishes  trial  by  in- 
dictment and  in  open  court. 

The  foregoing  shows  that  the  penal  laws,  both  substantive  law 
and  law  of  procedure,  now  in  force  in  Cuba  protect  the  life  of  the 
citizen  and  the  security  of  society,  and  are  agreeable  to  the  modern 
views  of  this  important  branch  of  legislation. 

*  Slavery  was  totally  abolished  in  1886. 

+  t^reedmen  {lil>ertos)  were  emancipated  slaves.  Certain  mutual  rights  and 
duties  of  no  practical  importance,  such  as  the  duty  of  mutual  assistance  in  case  of 
poverty,  &c.,  remained. 

35 


Criminal 

Procedure  and 

Right   of 

Appeal. 


Public  In- 
struction 
Fostered. 


Havana 
L'niversity 
Faculties. 


Representa- 
tion in  the 
Superior 
Hoard  of 
Public 
ln5truction. 


xvm. 

PUBLIC    INSTRUCTION. 

This  important  deparinient,  tlie  foundation  of  a  people's  culture 
and  prosperity,  has  in  Cuba  always  received  the  most  careful  atten- 
tion. As  far  back  as  1680  we  find  in  Title  22,  Book  i  of  the  Codi- 
fied Laws  of  the  Indies  judicious  precepts  which  show  how  great  was 
the  interest  taken  by  Spanish  monarchs  in  public  instruction  in  the 
colonies. 

In  recent  years,  as  formerly,  the  idea  of  unification  with  the 
legislation  of  Spain  has  prevailed  in  the  legislation  relating  to  this 
department.  The  decree  of  July  5,  1863,  extended  to  Cuba  the  act 
of  September  9,  1857,  which  is  still  in  force  in  the  Peninsula,  and 
the  greater  part  of  the  regulations  prescribed  for  its  enforcement. 

Still  with  the  intent  of  unification,  by  the  decree  of  June  18,  1880, 
important  reforms  were  effected.  By  the-  decree  of  December  7  of 
the  same  year  the  plan  of  instruction  was  reorganized.  Faculties  of 
sciences,  of  philosophy  and  the  humanities,  of  medicine,  of  phar- 
macy and  of  law,  were  formed  in  the  University  of  Havana,  thus 
creating  in  the  latter  the  same  faculties  which  compose  the  Univer- 
sity of  Madrid.  An  Institute*  like  the  institutes  of  the  Peninsula, 
and  with  the  same  curriculum  and  government,  was  established  in 
each  of  the  six  provinces  of  Cuba. 

By  the  royal  decree  of  July  7,  1883,  the  Havana  University 
District  was  created  in  the  same  form  as  the  districts  established  in  the 
Peninsula,  the  rector  of  the  University  of  Havana  being  the  head 
of  all  the  educational  establishments  of  the  district.  The  decree 
of  July  5,  1887,  regulated  the  process,  which  is  the  same  as  that  of 
the  Peninsula,  to  enable  the  university  to  confer  decrees  for  studies 
conducted  privately. 

The  (iovernor-deneral  of  Cuba  appoints  all  the  priniaryf  school 
instructors  whose  salaries  exceed  $300  a  year  ;  the  others  are  ap- 
pointed by  the  rector  of  the  University  of  Havana. 

For  the  supervision  of  public  education  there  is  in  Madrid  the 
Superior  Board  of  Public  Instruction,  whose  members  are  partly  ap- 
l^ointees  of  the  crown  and  jiartly  elective.  Among  the  former  is  the 
Under  Secretary  of  the  (."olonial  1  )cparlment  and   among   the   latter 


♦  Institutes  {institutos)  are  Government  schools  of  second  education  (see  note 
below),  in  contradistinction  from  the  private  schools  of  second  education  (colegios)- 

•f  In  Spanish  countries  schools  are  divided  into  schools  of  first  (/.  c,  priinarj ) 
education  and  schools  of  second  (i.  e.,  higher)  education. 

The  course  of  the  schools  of  higher  education  is  of  five  years,  an  A.  B.  being 
obtained  at  the  completion  of  this  course.  This  degree  is,  however,  only  a  prep- 
aration to  matriculation  in  the  universities  and  in  the  professional  schools. 

86 


five  members  selected  by  the  colonial  provinces.  Of  these  five  mem- 
bers Cuba  chooses  two  and  has  due  representation  in  that  high  con- 
sultive  body  of  the  kingdom,  the  similarity,  or  rather  the  equality, 
which  has  on  this  point  existed  for  a  long  time  past  between  Cuba 
and  the  Peninsula  being  patent. 

XIX. 

ECONOMICS. 

Besides  granting  to  Cuba,  witli  other  political  rights,  the  right  to 
representation  in  the  national  parliament — a  privilege  which  Eng- 
land has  conceded  to  none  of  her  colonies — Spain  has  kept  making 
concessions  advantageous  to  the  interests  of  her  West  Indian  ])rov- 
inces,  even  when  such  concession  seemed  contrary  to  the  interests 
of  the  Peninsula.  Scarcely  had  peace  been  made  with  France  and 
Ferdinand  VII.  been  restored  to  his  throne  when  two  royal  decrees 
were  proclaimed  ;  one  for  the  encouragement  of  white  immigra- 
tion and  the  other  to  open  the  ports  of  Cuba  to  the  flags  of  all 
nations.  In  a  few  years  the  economic  situation  of  the  island  com- 
pletely changed.  Prior  to  the  promulgation  of  the  decrees  the 
Cuban  treasury  had  required  the  constant  aid  of  the  treasury  of  the 
colony  of  Mexico.  From  1850  to  i860  the  Cuban  treasury  was  in 
so  prosperous  a  state  that  with  only  a  tax  of  2  per  cent,  on  the  prod- 
uce of  rural  property  and  of  4  per  cent,  on  the  rentals  of  urban 
real  estate,  a  small  tax  on  the  sale  of  realty,  the  stamp  tax,  and 
the  customs  dues,  which  had  greatly  increased  owing  to  the  thriving 
condition  of  trade,  its  surplus  never  fell  below  $3,000,000,  while 
it  rose  for  some  years  to  $5,000,000,  although  for  some  time  the 
treasury  made  a  yearly  contribution  of  $2,000,000  to  the  Crown. 

The  favorable  state  of  affairs  ceased  after  i860.  The  failure  of 
many  stock  companies  which  had  abused  their  credit,  and  the  facili- 
ties afforded  by  the  Government,  with  the  intention  of  developing 
the  natural  resources  of  the  country,  to  mercantile  and  industrial 
associations,  caused  an  intense  depression,  the  effect  of  which  was 
felt  by  the  public  treasury.  Filibustering  attempts  against  the 
sovereignty  of  Spain  previous  to  1 868,  and  the  rebellion  of  1868-1878, 
which  broke  out  at  the  very  moment  of  the  proclamation  in  Spain 
of  a  democratic  constitution  that  was  a  guarantee  of  a  liberal  gov- 
ernment for  the  Spanish  West  Indies,*  caused  a  large  increase  in  the 
estimates  for  the  army  and  the  navy,  which  previously  had  been 
very  slight,  and  further  embarrassed  the  treasury. 

If  some  years  later  the  prosperity  of  the  island  was  again  affected 
it  was  partly  owing  to  an  increase  in  the  cost  of  production,  due  to 

*  Universal  suffrage  was  established  in  Porto  Rico  at  the  same  time  that  it  was 
established  in  Spain,  in  ISTO. 


Period  of 
Prosperity. 


Increase  in 
Appropria- 
tions Due 

to  the 
Rebellion. 


87 


Convention 
Called  to 
Discuss  Finan- 
cial and  Other 
Matters- 


Taxation 

Considerably 

Reduced. 


Rcllcl  Meas- 
ures (fir  ^ujcar 
Producers. 


the  abolition  of  slavery  and  to  the  exclusion  of  Cuban  sugar  from 
several  foreign  markets,  and  partly  owing  to  an  increase  in  the  pro- 
duction of  beet  sugar,  circumstances  over  which  the  Government 
had  no  control. 

Previous  to  i86S  public  opinion  on  the  island  had  been  much 
occupied  with  the  economic  problems.  The  Government  had  al- 
ready sought  to  increase  the  supply  of  field  laborers,  which  was 
growing  scarce  owing  to  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade,  by  per- 
mitting the  importation  of  Chinese  coolies.  Finally  it  convoked  in 
Madrid  delegates  from  the  Spanish  West  Indies  for  the  discussion 
of  colonial  questions  from  all  points  of  view,  including  the  political. 

The  delegates  met  in  assembly,  expounded  their  views  and  pre- 
sented plans,  which,  to  be  sure,  differed  much  among  themselves, 
upon  the  questions  submitted  to  them,  such  as  the  facilitation  of 
immigration,  the  treaties  of  commerce  it  was  desirable  to  make,  and 
a  system  of  taxation  more  in  harmony  with  the   needs  of  the  island. 

It  was  to  the  initiative  of  the  actual  president  of  the  Council  of 
Ministers,  D.  Antonio  Canovas  del  Castillo,  that  the  convocation  of 
the  delegates  was  due. 

When  the  revolt  of  1868  broke  out  the  first  preparatory  measures 
were  taken  for  the  suppression  of  slavery  and  for  the  consequent 
change  to  a  new  labor  system,  the  change  being  accomplished  with- 
out the  perturbations  that  have  afflicted  the  colonies  of  other 
nations.  New  tariffs,  to  the  advantage  both  of  the  consumer  of 
imports  and  of  the  native  producer,  were  tried,  and  if  then,  as 
afterward,  the  exigencies  of  the  war  increased  all  taxation,  on  the 
conclusion  of  peace  the  Government,  with  the  assent  of  the  Cuban 
representative  in  the  Cortes,  hastened  to  lower  the  taxes  to  the  nor- 
mal rate,  the  tax  on  the  products  of  rural  property  falling  to  a  rate 
lower  than  that  in  any  country  of  European  origin.* 

At  the  request  of  the  representatives  of  Cuba,  who  were  desirous 
of  extending  the  Cuban  market  in  the  Peninsula,  a  Navigation  and 
Customs  Act  was  passed  in  1882.  The  object  of  the  statute  was  to 
unify  gradually  the  commerce  of  Spain  and  Cuba,  so  that  vessels 
trading  between  the  Peninsula  and  the  island  might  have  all  the 
privileges  of  a  coastwise  trade.  A  few  duties,  however,  were  to  be  re- 
stored, for  no  nation  is  under  obligation  to  sacrifice  its  exchequer  in 
order  to  increase  the  growili  of  tlie  wealth  of  its  colonies.  That 
has  never  been  done  by  France,  nor  by  England,  who,  in  that  re- 
spect, deals  with  her  colonies  as  with  foreign  nations.  Still  less  by 
Holland,  who  exploits  her  colonial  possessions. 

Since  1884,  when  the  great  depression  in  the  sugar  trade  of  C'uba 
and  Porto  Rico  began,  owing  to  the  exclusion  of  their  sugars  from 
all  markets  save  liiat  of  the  LJnitctl   States,  ami  to  combinations  of 


♦  See  Appendix. 


38 


American  refiners  to  reduce  the  price  o(  that  staple,  no  rational 
measure  for  the  relief  of  Cuban  sugar  producers  has  been  proposed 
by  the  Cuban  deputies  which  has  not  been  gladly  accepted  by  the 
Cortes  and  by  the  Government,  the  Prime  Minister,  Sr.  Canovas 
del  Castillo,  declaring  it  was  necessary  for  the  Peninsula  to  make 
great  sacrifices  to  the  needs  of  the  colonial  provinces. 

Vessels  sailing  under  the  United  States  flag  were  conceded  the 
same  privileges  as  those  sailing  under  the  Spanish  flag  in  exchange 
for  the  non-npplication  by  the  United  States  of  extraordinary  duties 
on  Cuban  sugars,  the  concession  proving  a  serious  injury  to  the 
producers  of  the  Peninsula  and  to  her  shipping  interests,  both 
through  the  decrease  in  home  freights  and  later  through  the  loss  of 
other  carrying  trade. 

The  estimates  of  expenditures  of  the  Ciovernnient  in  Cuba  were 
steadily  lowered.*  They  were  stripped  of  all  items  that  were  not 
of  absolute  necessity,  although  plausible  reasons  were  not  lacking 
for  the  retention  of  some  of  the  items  suppressed.  The  army  and 
the  navy  were  reduced  to  a  size  smaller  than  was  recjuired  for  the 
defense  of  the  island,  and  for  the  anticipation  of  events  that  were 
not  slow  to  occur. 

The  export  tax  on  sugar — a  valuable  source  of  revenue — was 
abolished,  with  the  intention  of  benefiting  the  producer.* 

The  import  tax  on  Cuban  and  Porto  Rican  sugar  was  abolished 
in  the  Peninsula,  leaving  only  the  town  dues,  the  duty  on  foreign 
sugar  being  considerably  raised. 

A  treaty  of  commerce  and  navigation  was  negotiated  with  the 
United  States  for  the  exclusive  benefit  of  the  producers  and  of  the 
trade  of  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico.  In  this  treaty  the  interests  of  pro- 
ducers of  the  Peninsula  were  made  a  secondary  consideration,  and 
the  manufacturers  of  flour,  and  consequently  the  wheat  raisers,  of 
the  mother  country  were  sacrificed.  Owing  to  a  change  of  admin- 
istration in  the  United  States  the  treaty  was  not  ratified.  Five 
years  later,  however,  it  was  again  negotiated  and  was  ratified,  re- 
maining in  operation  as  long  as  the  United  States  consented. 

So  great  was  the  injury  to  producers  and  to  the  trade  of  the 
Peninsula  that  one  article,  flour,  the  exportation  of  which  to  Cuba 
and  Porto  Rico  constituted  for  many  years  the  wealth  of  a  vast  dis- 
trict, was  excluded  from  the  Spanish  West  Indian  market. 

The  interest  on  the  Cuban  debt  was  considerably  reduced.  Pre- 
viously the  debt  had  been  guaranteed  by  the  Cuban  custom  dues  ; 
now  the  Cuban  debt  is  guaranteed  by  Spain,  Thus  it  became  pos- 
sible to  recall  the  bank  notes  issued  during  the  war  of  186S-1S78. 

Finally,  when  by  the  termination  of  the  commercial  treaty  with 
the  United  States  American  products  were  placed  at  a  disadvantage 


Concessions 
Made  to  the 
United  States 

Prove 

Injurious  to 

Home 

Interests. 


EHectsoftb* 

Reciprocity 

Treaty  with 

the  United 

5tates. 


Cuban 

Debt 

Quuranteed 

b>  5pain. 


*  See  Appendix. 


TariH  Re*ortn 

under 
Consideration. 


Cuban  Taxa- 
tion Lower 
than   in  Other 
Countries. 


Tariff 

and 

Surcharge. 


Good  Hffects 
ol  Peace> 


in  their  competition  witli  the  products  of  the  Peninsula,  because  the 
Navigation  Act  gave  the  products  of  the  latter  the  advantage,  some 
measures  favorable  to  the  products  of  the  United  States  were  taken 
and  others  prepared  though  not  voted  on  account  of  the  adjourn- 
ment of  the  Cortes. 

At  the  present  moment  reforms  in  the  tariff  law  of  the  Spanish 
West  Indies  are  under  consideration.*  The  intent  is  to  conciliate  as 
far  as  possible  the  interests  of  the  native  producer  and  consumer 
with  the  requirements  of  a  revenue  derived  mainly  from  customs 
dues,  by  the  desire,  directly  or  indirectly  expressed,  of  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico,  to  whom  taxes  on  real  estate  and  on 
manufactures  are  repugnant. 

The  taxes  which  constitute  the  estimated  revenue  of  the  island 
of  Cuba  for  1895-6  are  not  heavier,  and  in  some  cases  are  lighter, 
than  taxes  in  other  countries. 

The  sources  of  revenues,  exclusive  of  customs,  are  the  taxes  on 
the  sale  of  realty  ;  on  mining  claims  ;  on  urban  real  estate  (12  per 
cent,  on  the  rentalf)  ;  on  rural  real  estate  (2  per  cent,  on  the  value 
of  the  produce];);  on  manufactures;  on  licenses  to  sell  goods  ;  on 
licenses  to  practice  the  learned  professions  ;  on  licenses  to  practice 
trades  ;  on  consumption  of  liquors  and  on  licenses  to  sell  liquors  ; 
on  the  sale  of  railway  tickets  (i  per  cent.);  on  tobacco  ;  on  the  con- 
sumption of  petroleum  ;  on  the  salaries  of  employees  of  the  state, 
and  on  certain  payments  by  the  state  (i  per  cent.)  ;  and  a  capita- 
tion tax. 

The  import  duties  consist  of  the  imposts  fixed  by  a  schedule  and 
a  surcharge. § 

The  law  of  June  30,  1892,  made  the  surcharge  10  per  cent,  on  all 
articles  except  articles  of  food  and  a  few  other  articles.  The  law 
of  June  28,  1895,  increased  the  surcharge  to  15  per  cent,  and 
extended  the  list  of  exempt  articles. 

Various  other  indirect  taxes,  amounting  to  20  per  cent,  of  the 
estimated  revenue,  complete  the  list  of  taxes. 

From  the  time  of  the  pacification  of  the  island  in  1S78  to  the 
outbreak  of  the  present  insurrection  production,  trade,  navigation, 
railways  and  population  considerably  increased. § 

*  A  committee  of  the  Chambers  of  Commerce  of  Havana,  Santiago  de  Cuba  and 
Cienfuegos  was  summoned  to  Madrid  to  present  the  views  of  the  merchants  of  the 
island  on  tariff  matters. 

+  On  the  ttiC  rental  after  deduction  of  all  expenses. 

}  This  is  also  on  the  tut  produce.     Thus  f(jr  some  years  tiO  per  cent,  of  the  market 
price  of  coffee  was  allowed  for  expenses  of  production. 
S  See  Appendix. 


40 


XX. 

CUBA'S  PUBLIC   DEBT. 

Until  1868  the  finances  of  the  island  of  Cuba  were  in  an  exceed- 
ingly prosperous  condition.  For  many  years  there  was  an  excess  of 
revenue  over  expenditure,  although,  as  has  been  said  before,  the 
Cuban  treasury  made  large  contributions  to  the  national  treasury. 
In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  cost  of  the  military  expeditions  to 
Mexico  and  San  Domiiii^o  was  defrayed  by  the  Treasury,  the  deficit 
at  the  outbreak  of  the  Cuban  revolt  in  1868  was  only  $7,630,000,  an 
insignificant  sum  in  view  of  the  resources  of  the  island.  That  these 
burdens  were  thrown  upon  the  Cuban  treasury  is  not  surprising,  inas- 
much as  for  many  years  the  Crown  of  Spain  had  in  Cuba  a  very 
costly  colony,  wliose  expenses  had  to  be  met  by  subsidies  from  the 
colonies  of  Mexico  and  Peru. 

It  was  but  reasonable  to  suppose  that  in  the  following  year,  if 
the  whole  deficit  could  not  be  paid,  at  least  the  great  excess  of 
revenue  over  expenditures  of  the  previous  years  would  not  fail,  but 
from  the  outbreak  of  the  revolt  such  hopes  were  vain. 

The  revenues,  in  consequence  of  the  revolt,  were  much  reduced, 
while  the  expenses  rose  to  huge  proportions.  Extraordinary  taxes 
were  levied,  but  they  proved  insufficient.  Loans  were  obtained 
first  from  the  Banco  Espaiiol  of  Havana  and  subsequently  from 
other  banks.  Treasury  notes  and  bank  notes  guaranteed  by  the 
Treasury,  the  latter  through  the  Banco  Espafiol  of  Havana,  were 
issued.  The  Treasury  issued  bonds  guaranteed  by  the  customs 
dues,  and  a  floating  debt  for  the  liquidation  of  previous  expendi- 
tures was  formed.  All  these  debts  were  consolidated  by  the  issues 
of  bonds  guaranteed  by  the  Cuban  treasury  to  the  amount  of 
620,000,000  pesetas  ($124,000,000)  in  1886,  and  to  the  amount  of 
222,500,000  pesetas  ($44,500,000)  in  1890,  making  a  total  debt  at 
the  outbreak  of  the  present  revolt  of  $168,500,000. 

The  sources  of  the  Culx'in  dei)t   being   shown,  ail  coiniiientarv  is 


Financial 

5trait.s 

Caused  by 

the  Insurrec* 

tion. 


Consolida- 
tion of  the 
Debt. 


unnecessary. 

Porto  Kico  has  never  risen  in  revolt. 


It  has  no  debt. 


XXI. 

APPOINTHENTS  TO  PUBLIC  OFFICE. 

Rich  rs  of  CL■n.^^•s. 

No  law  deprives  Cubans  of  the  ri<;ht,  in  common  with  other 
Spanish  citizens,  to  hold  public  office. 

They  hold  office,  on  equal  terms  with  the  natives  of  the  Penin- 
sula, in  tile   civil    administration,  the  juiliciary.  the    army,  llie    navy 

41 


Cubans 

Mold  i'ublic 

Offices. 


Fifth  Offi- 
cers Mostly 
Cubans. 


Qualifications 
Required. 


and  the  church.*  If  there  be  any  inequality  it  is  to  their  advan- 
tage. 

This  may  be  easily  proved  by  the  preamble  of  the  royal  decree  of 
October  13,  1890,  for  the  reorganization  of  the  administrative  per- 
sonnel appointed  by  the  Minister  of  the  Colonies,  and  by  other 
resolutions.  The  decree  very  properly  recites  that  "  from  the  time 
of  the  old  laws  of  the  Indies  Spanish  legislation  has  tended  to  oblit- 
erate the  differences  of  origin  between  the  natives  of  the  colonial 
provinces  and  of  the  Peninsula,  equalizing  their  rights  and  granting 
the  former  direct  participation  in  state  offices. 

"The  development  of  this  policy,"  it  adds,  "has  produced  the 
result  that  public  offices  are  filled  indiscriminately  by  Spaniards  of 
the  Peninsula  and  by  Spaniards  of  the  colonial  provinces.  With 
that  end  in  view,  the  present  laws  afford  means,  sure  in  some  grades 
of  the  administration  and  easy  in  others,  that  place  within  the  reach 
of  all  officials  the  offices  which  form  the  graduated  scale  of  the 
administrative  bodies." 

That  decree  gives  the  Governor-General  the  power  to  appoint 
all  officials  whose  salaries  are  above  1,500  pesetas  ($300),  that  is  to 
say  inclusive  of  fifth  officers. f  The  great  majority  of  these  fifth 
officers  are  natives  of  the  colonial  provinces,  owing  to  the  require- 
ment, among  others,  for  appointment  of  a  residence  in  the  territory 
during  at  least  the  two  years  previous  to  entrance  upon  the  discharge 
of  the  duties.  Thus  all  fifth  officers  in  Cuba  must  have  resided  on 
the  island  during  at  least  the  two  years  previous  to  entering  office. 

The  following  is  the  text  : 

Art.  XVII.  The  appointments  of  fifth  officers  in  the  colonial 
provinces  shall  be  made  by  the  respective  Governor-Generals,  giving 
immediate  notice  to  the  Minister  of  the  Colonies  for  confirmation, 
by  royal  order,  of  the  appointments. 

The  appointment  shall  state  the  appointee's  qualifications,  and 
verify  them  by  documentary  proof  thereof. 

Said  cjualificatians  are  : 

1.  Residence  in  the  respective  territories  for  the  two  years  pre- 
vious to  appointment. 

2.  To  be  eighteen  years  of  age. 

3.  To  have  filled  an  office  of  the  same  grade, |  without  rei')rinKuui. 
in  the  central  or  provincial  administration  ;  or  to  have  held  a  clerk- 


*  The  Archdeacon  of  the  Cathedral  of  Porto  Rico,  D.  Baldomero  Hernandez, 
is  a  native  of  the  Spanish  West  Indies.  So  are  several  priests  wrho  occupy  high 
offices,  among  them  the  Prebendary  of  the  Cathedral  of  Havana,  D.  Mariano 
Rodriguez  Armenteros. 

+  Employment  in  the  public  administration  is  in  Spain,  as  in  France,  a  profes- 
sion organized  in  ranks.  The  lowest  rank,  which  corresponds  to  second  lieutenant 
in  the  army,  is  the  fifth  officer  ;  the  fourth  officer,  third  officer,  &c.,  being  above 
him.  An  official,  if  discharged,  is  still  in  the  profession,  and  is  in  a  situation 
analogous  to  that  of  an  army  officer  placed  on  furlough. 

X  I.  e.,  if  a  fifth  officer,  he  must  have  held  a  fifth  officer's  position. 

43 


ship,  with  the  same  qualification  as  to  reprimand,  and  to  have  had 
for  four  years  a  yearly  salary  of  $300  in  Porto  Rico  and  in  the  Phil- 
ippine Islands,  and  of  $600  in  Cuba  ;  or  to  have  obtained  the  degree 
of  bachelor  of  arts  or  a  professional  diploma  of  some  kind. 

With  regard  to  offices  of  greater  importance  the  natives  of  the 
colonial  provinces  are  truly  privileged.  Another  article  of  the  same 
decree  says  : 

.\ki.  XIII.    Residents  of  the  islands  of  Cuha,  Porto  Rico  and  tlw      Cubans  a.* 
Philippines   who     have    been     provincial    deputies,    or    have    been       Heads  of 
mayors  or  aldermen  of  a  provincial    capital,  or  have   been  members   '*ep«'^'"'^nts. 
of  administrative  councils  or  members  of  the   present  consultive  or 
au.xiliary  administrative  boards  in  the  capitals  of  provinces,  may  be 
appointed  as   heads  of  administrative    departments,   excepting  the 
customs,   in  their   respective  jirovinces  ;   and   those  who   have  been 
members  of  provincial  and  local  boards,  or  been   mayors   or  alder- 
men   of    municipalities,   excepting  the  provincial  capitals,   may  be 
ap[)ointed   as  heads   of  departmental    sections,  providetl   they  have 
the  following  cjualifications  : 

1.  Residence  in  their  respective  territories  during  the  eight  years  pre- 
ceding the  appointment. 

2.  To  have  held  for  four  years,  without  having  resigned,  one  of 
the  offices  enumerated  in  this  article. 

If  the  office  be  that  of  provincial  assemblyman,  mayor  or  alder- 
man, it  must  have  been  obtained  through  a  popular  election.* 

The  proportion  of  offices  in  each  branch  of  the  national  admin- 
istration held  by  natives  of  the  colonial  provinces  is  the  best  evidence 
of  the  liberality  with  which  their  merits  and  abilities  have  been 
rewarded. 

The  present  Minister  of  'War,  Lieutenant-Cieneral  I).  Marcelo  de 
Azcarraga  y  Palmero,  is  a  native  of  the  Philippine  Islands. 

The  ex-Minister  of   the  Colonies,  D.  lUienaventura  de  Abarzuza,       Cubans  in 
is    a   Cuban.     The   Under   Secretary   of    the  Colonial   Department,      H'tfh  ofiice 

•'  '  in  Spain. 

D.  Guillermo  de  Osma,  is  also  a  Cuban.  So  are  I).  Wenceslao 
Ramirez  de  Villaurrutia,  the  late  Assistant  Secretary  of  State,  and 
D.  Francisco  Cassa,  the  present  Secretary  of  the  Province  of  Madrid. 

D.  Francisco  Lastres,  Vice-President  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies 
in  the  last  legislature,  and  D.  Santos  Guzman,  another  ex-Vice- 
President  of  the  Chambers,  are  Cubans. 

In  the  diplomafic  service  there  are  a  number  of  Cubans. 
I).  Lorenzo  de  Castellanos  was  the  .Minister  that  represented  Spain 
in  Mexico. 

The  long  list  of  employees  of  the  colonial  civil  service  contains, 
together  with  the  names  of  Cubans  who  took  part  in  the  former 
revolt,  and  who  held  office  either  in  the  metropolis  or  on  the  island, 
the  names  of  many  natives  of  Cuba,  among  them  :  Acosta.  Montalvo, 
Azcarate,  Vinent,  Kindelan,  Freire,  Ilisastegui,  Echevarria.  Justiz, 
Saladrigas,  O'Farril,  Bolivar,   Rosillo.  \'aldc'S,   .Malli,  .\rmas,  Betan- 

*  This  would  exclude  appointees  to  fill  vacancies. 

43 


Department  of 

Education  in 

the  Hands  of 

Cubans. 


The 

Department 

of  Justice 

nostly 

Intrusted  to 

Cuban 
Magistrates. 


court,  Bernal,  Balboa,  Cadaval,  Diago,  Chacon,  Beltran,  Insua, 
Kohaly,  Varona.  and  scores  of  others. 

In  the  Post  Office  Department  alone  there  are  more  than  loo 
Cubans,  that    is    to   say,  one-half  of  the   total    number  of  officials. 

The  Department  of  Education  may  be  said  to  be  in  the  hands  of 
Cubans.  The  Rector  of  the  University  of  Havana,  D.  Joaquin  F. 
Lastres.  is  a  Cuban.  Cubans  also  are  the  Vice-Rector,  D.  Jose  Ma- 
ria Carbonell,  the  Secretary-General.  D.  Juan  Gomez  de  la  Maza  y 
Tejada,  and  the  deans  of  all  the  faculties  :  D.  Jose  Castellanos  y 
Arango.  dean  of  the  faculty  of  philosophy  and  the  humanities  ; 
D.  Manuel  J.  Caiiizales  Benegas,  dean  of  the  faculty  of  sciences; 
D.  Leopold©  Berrier  y  Fernandez,  dean  of  the  faculty  of  law  ;  D. 
Federico  Hortsman  y  Cantos,  dean  of  the  faculty  of  medicine  ;  D. 
Carlos  Donoso  y  Lardier,  dean  of  the  faculty  of  pharmacy  ;  and  the 
director  of*  the  botanic  gardens,  D.  Manuel  Gomez.  Of  the  eighty 
professors  of  the  university  sixty  are  Cubans. 

The  director,  D.  Bruno  Garcia  Ayllon,  and  the  eight  other  pro- 
fessors of  the  School  of  Technology  are  Cubans.  Of  the  three 
instructors  of  the  School  of  Painting  and  Sculpture  only  one  is  a 
native  of  the  Peninsula,  the  director  being  a  Cuban.  The  institutes 
of  Matanzas,  Santa  Clara  and  Puerto  Principe  are  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Cubans,  D.  Eduardo  Diaz  y  Martinez,  D.  Alejandro  Muxo  y 
Pablos  and  1).  Agustin  Betancourt  y  Ronquillo  respectively. 

The  total  number  of  professors  of  all  the  institutes  of  the 
island  is  fifty-eight.     Of  that  number  thirty-five  are  Cubans. 

In  the  Department  of  Justice  of  the  island  nearly  all  the  offices 
of  lower  rank*  are  held  by  natives.  With  extremely  rare  excep- 
tions the  municipal  judges  and  district  attorneys  are  Cubans. 
Even  in  the  higher  ranks  of  the  magistracy  the  natives  have  a  large 
share  of  the  offices.  The  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Havana, 
I).  Manuel  Vias  Ochoteco,  D.  Francisco  Noval  y  Marti  and  D.  Juan 
Valdes  Pages,  are  natives  of  the  Spanish  West  Indies.  So  are  D. 
Jose  Maria  Larrazabal,  presiding  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Matanzas  ;  D.  Francisco  Ramos  y  Moya,  presiding  justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Santiago  de  Cuba,  and  1).  Belisario  Alvarez  Ces- 
pedes,  assistant  district  attorney  of  Havana. 

Of  forty-one  justices  of  the  Supreme  Courts  ten  are  Cubans; 
of  twenty-four  judges  of  the  Courts  of  Criminal  Appeal  seven  are 
Cubans  ;   of  thirty-six  district  court  judgesf  {de  tcrvniio)  twelve   are 


•  See  note  below. 

+  The  judiciary  in  Spain,  as  in  France,  is  a  profession  organized  in  ranks,  tlie 
lowest  rank  being  tlie  district  court  judge  of  entry  i^jitez  de  cntraUa),  and  the  high- 
est the  presidency  of  the  .Supreme  Court  (presidetttc  dc  la  audiencia).  The  profes- 
sion is  open  only  to  members  of  the  bar,  entrance  being  by  competitive  examina- 
tion and  promotion  by  seniority.  Above  the  district  court  judge  U/e  entrada)  ranks 
the  judge  {de  asccttso),  and  above  the  latter  the  judges  {dc  t^rmino). 

44 


Cubans;  of  forty-f(jur  district  court  judges  {df  asieiiso)  thirteen  are 
Cubans;  of  sixty-two  district  court  judges  {df  cntraila)  twenty- 
three  are  Cubans,  and  in  the  Philippine  Islands  seven  Cubans  hold 
judicial  offices.  'I'here  are  therefore  in  the  judicial  prtjfession  in 
the  colonial  provnices  seventy-eight  natives  of  those  provinces  ; 
that  is  to  say,  thirty  per  cent,  of  the  total.  And  this  ratio  will 
increase  in  favor  of  the  natives  of  the  colonial  i)rovinces,  for  the 
facilities  for  the  admission  of  natives  to  the  judiciary  have  much 
increased  in  recent  years,  and  many  who  are  now  in  the  lower  ranks 
of  the  judiciary  will  in  time  rise  through  promotion  by  seniority. 

Of  the  seventy-five  notary  districts  fifty  are  in  charge  of  Cubans. 
Of  twenty-five  land  registry  offices  thirteen  are  in  charge  of 
Cubans. 

(]uba  has  a  large  and  brilliant  representation  in  the  Spanish 
army.  Major-Ceneral  1).  Jose  Arderius,  who  but  a  few  months  ago 
was  military  governor  of  Havana,  is  a  Cuban.  So  are  Major- 
Geherals  D.  Andres  Gonzales  Munoz  and  D.  Francisco  Lono,  who 
are  serving  now  in  Cuba,  and  MajorGeneral  D.  Adolfo  Rodriguez 
Kruzon,  who  is  stationed  in  the  Peninsula.  Brigadier-Generals  D. 
thiiiliano  Loiio,  D.  Miguel  Bosch,  D.  Jorge  Garrich,  I).  Juan 
Godoy,  and  others  are  also  natives  of  the  Spanish  West  Indies. 

The  Spanish  army  has  had  many  famous  commanders  of  colonial 
origin.  Captain-Generals  D.  Jose  Manuel  Gutierrez  de  la  Concha 
and  L).  Manuel  Gutierrez  de  la  Concha  were  natives  of  Buenos 
Ayres  ;  Captain-General  D.  Juan  Zavala  was  a  native  of  Peru; 
Captain-General  Juan  de  la  Pezuela,  who  still  lives,  is  a  native  of 
Peru  ;  Lieutenant-General  D.  Felipe  Rivero  was  a  native  of  Bolivia  ; 
D.  Antonio  Ros  de  Olano  was  a  native  of  Caracas  ;  D.  Fernando 
Fernandez  de  Cordova  was  a  native  of  Buenos  Ayres ;  Lieutenant- 
Generals  D.  Ramon  Zarco  del  Valle,  D.  Vicente  Genaro  de  (^uesada 
and  D.  Joaquin  de  Ezpeleta  were  natives  of  Havana  ;  Major-Gen- 
erals  D.  Juan  Ampudia,  D.  Feli.x  Ferrer  and  D.  Francisco  Acosta 
were  natives  of  Cuba. 

In  the  infantry,  chiefs*  and  officers  who  are  natives  of  the  colo- 
nial provinces  are  numerous.  Among  them  are  Ciarcia  Delgado, 
Aguilera,  Padilla,  Romaguera,  Sanchez  Echevarria,  Gaston.  Rubio 
Masot,  Salas  Marzal,  Lopez  Rozabal,  Marti,  Casiilla  Mirmol.  Alva- 
rado,  Villalon,  Amoedo,  Infante,  Cevallos  Aviles,  Luque,  Loperena, 
Garriga,  Mahy,  &€. 

In  the  cavalry,  although  the  personnel  is  smaller,  the  number  of 
chiefs  and  officers  who  are  natives  of  the  Spanish  West  Indies  is 
nearly  one  hundred.  Among  them  are  Girond.  Zapirain.  Figueroa, 
Yrio,  Urgelles,  Andriani,  Palanca,  Serrano  Dominguez,  Pezuela^ 
Vinent,    Moreno,    Fromista,   Gonzalez    Anleo,    Roviralia,    Gamboa, 


Distinifuishcd 

Cuban 
Officers 

in  the 
Spanish 

Army. 


Infantry 
Officers. 


Cav  dlr> 
Officers. 


*  See  note  page  SH. 


4") 


Cuban 
Officers 
in  Other 

Corps. 


Cubans 
Take  Part 
in  National 
Legislation. 


Gregorich,  Betancourt,  Perez  Pedroso,  Obregon  Fedriani,  Kirpat- 
rich,  O'Farril  and  others.* 

In  the  artillery  the  number  of  chiefs  and  officers  natives  of  the 
colonial  provinces  is  fifty-five.  Among  them  are  Flores,  Segarra, 
Tapia  Ruano,  Ceballos,  Planell,  Velay  Silva,  Garcia  del  Valle, 
Vicario  y  Delfin,  Osma  y  Scull,  Marchesi,  De  Miguel,  Valdivia, 
Irizar,  Vega  y  Zayas  and  others. 

In  the  engineers  the  number  of  officers  natives  of  the  colonial 
provinces  is  thirty-six.  Among  them  are  Otero  Cossio,  Gayoso  y 
O'Xagthen,  Portillo,  Navarro  y  Muzquiz,  Kindelan,  Manzano,  Do- 
minicis,  Casamitjana,  Tuero,  Gonzalez  Estefani  and  others. 

In  the  general  staff  there  are  nineteen  natives  of  the  colonial 
provinces.  Among  them  are  Castanera,  Domingo,  Kindelan, 
Vivanco,  Casariego,  Incenga,  Morales,  Ortiz  and  others. 

In  the  constabulary  the  number  of  natives  of  the  colonial  prov- 
inces is  thirty-five  ;  in  the  custom  house  the  number  is  nine  ;  in  the 
military  sanitary  corps  thirteen  ;  in  the  military  administration  seven- 
teen ;  in  the  judge  advocate's  office  two  ;  in  the  veterinary  corps,  two. 

The  navy  list  also  includes  colonial  born  admirals  and  officers. 

The  natives  of  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico  have  free  access  to  all  the 
official  careers.  They  have  their  share,  without  restriction,  in  the 
national  life  in  all  its  aspects.  Cubans  and  Porto  Ricans,  as  repre- 
sentatives of  their  provinces  in  the  Senate  and  in  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies,  take  part  in  the  legislation  for  the  whole  Spanish  nation. f 


*  In  the  infantry  and  cavalry  alone  now  serving  in  the  war  in  Cuba  there  are  146 
officers  of  all  ranks,  from  major-general  to  second  lieutenant,  who  are  natives  of 
Cuba.  If  to  that  number  be  added  the  officers  serving  in  the  artillery  and  the 
engineers  and  in  the  ordnance,  medical  and  commissary  departments,  it  would  be 
a  sober  statement  to  say  that  500  Cuban  officers  are  now  in  the  Spanish  army 
fighting  against  the  rebellion.  All  these  officers  have  passed  through  the  Spanish 
military  academies,  and  not  a  single  one  of  them  has  deserted  the  Spanish  flag. 

+  A  famous  man  of  letters,  D.  Juan  Valera,  ex-Minister  of  Spain  to  the  United 
States,  has  very  properly  said  in  an  article  recently  published  in  Madrid  : 

"  I  maintain  that  we  have  at  all  times,  from  the  remote  past,  given  Spanish 
Americans  every  proof  of  our  esteem  and  affection.  *  *  *  The  fact  that  they 
were  Spanish  Americans  did  not  in  the  slightest  degree  militate  against  Gorostiza, 
Ventura  de  la  Vega,  Rafael  Maria  Baralt,  and  Jose  Heriberto  Garcia  de  Quevedo  ; 
on  the  contrary,  they  received  the  highest  encomiums  in  Spain  ;  we  applauded 
them  and  honored  them  with  important  posts  and  offices.  Many  other  illustrious 
men,  likewise  born  in  Spanish  America,  have  become  Spanish  statesmen  and  gen- 
erals. Among  these  may  be  cited  the  Marquis  del  Duero.  All  those  who  have 
distinguished  themselves  in  Spanish  America  by  their  learning,  their  genius  and 
their  exploits,  since  the  time  when  Spanish  America  became  independent,  have 
been  as  famous  and  have  been  praised  and  admired  as  much  in  Spain  as  in  the 
republics  which  gave  them  birth.  Take  as  instances  Don  Andr6s  Bello,  whom  we 
all  admire  as  a  philologist  and  as  the  author  of  '  International  Law,'  and  whose 
beautiful  and  polished  verses  we  know  from  memory  ;  Don  Rufino  Cuervo,  whose 
dictionary  we  regard  as  a  marvel  of  industry.  And  how  greatly  do  we  admire 
the  poems  of  the  two  Caros,  and  those  of  Marmol,  Andrade,  Obligado,  Restrepo, 
Oyuela,  Ruben  Dario  and  many  others  I  " 

46 


xxn. 

GOVERNHENT    PROFESSIONS.* 

On  September  20,  1878,  at  tlie  suggestion  of  the  President  of  ilie  Lnidc.tion 
Council  of  Ministers,  at  that  time  I).  Antonio  Canovas  del  Castillo^  Profession* 
a  royal  decree  was  proclaimed  ordering  that  the  personnels  of  the 
courts  of  justice,  universities,  institutes,  special  schools,  normal 
schools,  and  primary  schools  should  eacii  constitute  (me  profession 
whose  members  would  serve  without  discrimination  in  the  Peninsula 
and  m   the  colonial  provinces. 

That  was  at  the  time  of  the  Zanjon  capitulation.  As  was  then 
said  by  the  president  of  the  council  :  "  Since  the  pacification  of 
Cuba,  your  Majesty's  Government  has  not  ceased  its  efforts  to 
afford  the  colonial  provinces  the  benefits  of  a  normal  situation,  by 
establishing  in  each  of  them  the  provincial  and  municipal  organiza- 
tion best  fitted  to  its  needs,  and  by  encouraging  immigration  and 
insuring  the  stability  of  the  credit  of  the  island,  an  indispensable 
element  to  the  growth  of  a  nation's  wealth. 

"  In  the  task  of  reconstruction  and  assimilation  there  is  lacking 
an  important  reform,  a  reform  which  will  contribute  effectually  to 
tighten  the  bonds  between  the  various  parts  of  the  Spanish  territory 
and  will  further  the  establishment  of  recent  legislation.  This  re- 
form is  the  unification  of  the  civil  professions  in  the  Peninsula  and 
in  tlie  colonial  provinces.  Formerly  they  were  unifietl,  but  a  narrow 
interpretation  of  the  law  has  separated  them,  to  the  injury  both  of  the 
officials  and  of  the  administration  of  the  government.  All  the  ser- 
vices are  not  disconnected  in  so  singular  a  manner.  The  army,  the 
navy,  the  civil  engineers  of  roads  and  canals,  of  mines  and  forest.^, 
and  the  telegraphists  serve,  without  discrimination,  in  Spain,  in  the 
Spanish  West  Indies,  in  the  Philippine  Islands  and  in  the  posses- 
sions of  the  Gulf  of  Guinea.  Only  the  personnels  of  the  courts  of 
justice,  of  public  instruction,  and  of  the  civil  and  financial  adminis- 
tration are  disconnected,  their  length  of  services  and  ranks  in  the 
colonial  provinces  receiving,  as  a  rule,  no  recognition  in  the  Penin- 
sula. 

"  When  these  unjustifiable  barriers  within  the  same  professions 
are  leveled,  the  functionaries,  both  of  the  Peninsula  and  of  the 
colonial  provinces,  will  have  within  their  reach  a  greater  number  of 
offices,  the  disqualifications  due  to    incompatibility  being    removed, 

*  In  Spain,  as  in  France,  Government  services  are  professions,  organised  in 
ranks.  Entrance  into  the  service  is  by  competitive  e.xammation  ;  promotion,  as  a 
rule,  by  seniority.  An  officer  if  suspended  retains  his  rank.  There  is  a  pension  for 
long  service. 

47 


and  the  Government  will   be  able  to  select  with  greater  freedom  the 
employees  that  may  be  best  fitted  to  fill  the  offices. 

"  Althougli  the  attainment  of  these  objects  will  prove  of  very 
great  advantage,  it  is  surpassed  in  importance  by  a  consideration 
which  has  primarily  influenced  your  Majesty's  Government  ;  and 
that  consideration  is,  that  to  establish  the  same  reform  in  all  the 
territory  of  Spain,  to  render  its  legislation  uniform,  to  conciliate  the 
conflicting  interests  of  the  various  sections  of  the  country,  to  as- 
similate its  provinces,  is  to  secure  and  strengthen  the  unity  of  the 
nation." 

Article  I.  of  this  decree  is  as  follows  :  "  The  personnels  of 
the  courts  of  justice,  of  the  universities,  institutes,  special  schools, 
normal  schools  and  primary  schools  shall  each  constitute  one  pro- 
fession, which  shall  be  under  similar  regulations  and  shall  serve 
without  discrimination  in  the  Peninsula  and  m  the  colonial  provinces." 


XXIII. 

REriARKS. 

The  Autonomist  Party. 

Cuba  Enjoys  As    has    been  shown,    the    present    )('i::;iinc  of    the    Spanish  West 

rivi  eges       |,^(jies  jg  the  result  of  the  tendencv  that  has  for  a  long  time  prevailed 

Denied  to  '  . 

Other  Spanish  of  assimilating  them  with  Spain,  turning  them  into  Spanish  prov- 
Provinces.  jp.ces,  with  the  institutions,  rights  and  privileges  of  other  provinces 
of  Spain  ;  and  the  legislation  for  them,  which  untier  the  Constitution 
must  either  be  special  or  must  be  the  legislation  of  the  Peninsula, 
with  or  without  modification,  far  from  lessening  their  privileges  and 
l(;cal  liberties,  tends,  on  the  contrary,  to  give  them  solid  guarantees 
of  prosperity,  and  e.xempts  them  from  burdens  imposed  on  all  the 
other  parts  of  the  Spanish  territory. 

'i'hus  the  Cubans  are  e.\em|)t  from  military  service,  while  the 
natives  of  the  Peninsula  serve  for  twelve*  \ears  in  the  army. 

The  Cuban  exchecpier  is  not  liable  for  the  debts  of  the  national 
exchequer,  whereas  the  latter  guarantees  the  payment  of  the  Cuban 
debt. 

All  the  revenue  collecled  from  taxation  in  ('uba  is  used  to 
satisfy  the  expenses  of  the  adininistralion  of  the  island. 

The  Cuban  treasury  does  not  contribute  to  the  expense  of  the 
Cortes,  of  the  Appellate  ('ourts,  nor  of  the   Superior   Administrative 

*  Three  years  with  the  colors,  the  rest  in  the  reserves. 

48 


Council  and  advisory  boards,  nor  to  the  salaries  of  the  diplomatic 
and  consular  representatives,  all  of  which  discharge  their  functions 
for  the  benefit  of  Cuba  as  well  as  for  that  of  the  rest  of  the  nation. 

The  organization  of  the  Cuban  government  may    therefore  Ije       similarity 
said  to  resemble  the  system  of   government  of  the    iiritish  colonies        Hrju'^h 
rather  than  that  of  other  European  colonies.  Colonies. 

All  this  has  been  stated  by  no  one  more  eloquently  tiian  by  the 
central  committee  of  the  Autonomist  party  in  its  address  to  the 
l)eople  of  Cuba  at  the  outbreak  of  the  present  rev(jlt.  'I'he  address 
bears  the  date  April  4,  1895,  and  is  subscribed  with  tlie  names  of 
the  most  eminent  men  of  the  party — men  such  as  Josd  Maria  Cialvez, 
Carlos  Saladrigas,  Juan  Bautista  Armenteros,  Luis  Armenteros 
Labrador,  Manuel  Rafael  Angulo,  Cionzalo  Arostegui,  Jose  Huzon, 
]as6  Maria   Carbonell,  Jose  de  Cardenas  y  Gassie,  Kaimundo  Ca-     ^^ 

•'  The  Autono- 

brera  y  Leopoldo  Cansio,  Jose  A.  de  Cueto,  Marques  de  Ksteban,  mist  party. 
Rafael  Fernandez  de  Castro,  Carlos  Fons  y  Sterling,  Jose  Fernan- 
dez Pellon,  Antonio  Gobin  y  Torres,  Eliseo  Giberga,  Joaquin  Ciuell 
y  Rente,  Jose  Maria  Garcia  Montes,  Manuel  Francisco  Lamar,  Her- 
minio  C.  Leiva,  Ricardo  del  Monte,  Federico  Martinez  Quintana, 
Rafael  Montoro,  Jose  Rafael  Montalvo,  Antonio  Mesa  y  Dominguez, 
Ramon  Perez  Trujillo,  Pedro  A.  Perez,  Leopoldo  Sola,  Emilio 
Terry,  Diego  Tamayo,  Miguel  Francisco  Viondi,  Francisco  Zayas 
and  Carlos  de  Zaldo. 

The  address  states  that  but  for  the  outbreak  of  the  revolt  "the  Address  of 
central  committee  would  have  performed  the  duty  of  addressing  the  omist""" 
country  on  the  eve  of  the  inauguration  of  a  new  regime  in  the  adop- 
tion of  which  the  representatives  of  the  country  had  co-operated  in 
an  atmosphere  of  benevolence  and  concord  they  never  before  had 
felt  in  the  metropolis,  and  to  which  they  wished  to  bear  true  witness 
before  their  fellow  citizens." 

Such  was  the  moment  selected  by  the  rebels  to  raise  the  standard      ^^'-'  *^»^^^<'" 

Condemned 

of  revolt  against   the   mother  country,  which  was   nitent  upon  the         by  the 
work  of  colonial  reform.      But  the  Autonomist   party  proved   itself     Auj^onomist 
as  firm  in  its  principles  as  it  was  energetic  in  its  protest  against  that 
which  it  described  as  "  an   anonymous  and  iniquitous  raid,  with  a 
hurrah  for  every  cause  and  a  flag  for  every  seditious  act."      /Vnd  it 
adds  : 

"  The  new  regime,  voted  by  the  Cortes — which,  if  inaugurated  in 
a  time  of  peace  and  in  the  midst  of  the  powerful  current  that  had 
set  in  in  favor  of  concord  and  progress  through  liberty,  would  have 
been  prolific  in  immediate  benefits  and  would  have  been  a  prepara- 
tion to  further  advance — can  never  give  such  results  if  established 
amid  the  an.xieties,  the  wrath,  the  resentments  and  tiie  indignations 
of  a  civil  war." 


Party. 


49 


Progress  And  further  on,  summing  up  "  the  important   conquests  made  in 

sTrnish  rJic.    ^^^^    direction    of    colonial  decentralization,"  it    specifies    the    fol- 
lowing : 

"Abolition  of  slavery  and  of  the  apprenticeship  to  labor. 
"  Proclamation  of  the  organic  law  of  the  state.* 
"  Freedom  of  the   press,  of  peaceful  assembly,  of  association,  of 
education  and   of  worship,  to  the  same  extent   and  with   the   same 
guarantees  as  in  the  mother  country. 
"  Trial  in  open  court. 
"  Civil  marriage  and  registration  thereof. 

"  All  the  modern  civil  and  penal  laws  of  the  mother  country. 
*'  The  abolition  of  differential  duties  and  of  export  taxes. 
"  Expenditures  reduced  by  35  per  cent,  since  the  former  war." 
And  it  ends  with  these  words  : 

"  The  liberal  party   of  iSyS,  which  has  seen   ifi  what  manner  the 

promises  of  the   Zanjon    Treaty   have   been  performed  and  are   being 

performed,   will  not  strike   its  flag,  nor  will   it  retreat   before   those 

who  come  to  destroy  the  harvest  of   our  toils,  to  turn  us  back  from 

the  path   of  peaceful  progress,  to  lay  waste  the  land,  and  to  cloud 

the  perspective  of  our  future  with  the  horrible  spectres  of  misery, 

anarchy  and  barbarism  !  " 

TheAutono-  Such   is  the  Opinion  of  the  Autonomist  party  of  Cuba  upon   the 

"mains* Loya^    true  meaning  of  the  revolt  against  Spanish  domination.       And  what 

to  Spain.       men  can  speak  in  this  matter   more  authoritatively  than  the  Cuban 

Autonomists  ? 

The  form  of  government  provided  in  the  reform  law  proclaimed 
on  March  23,  1895,  is  the  limit  of  independence  that  can  be  granted 
to  a  province  without  absolutely  breaking  the   bonds  of  union  with 
the  nation. 
Reform  Law  That  act  provides  for  a  council  of  administration  consisting  of 

o  "Sqs-  thirty  councillors,  fifteen  appointed  by  the  Crown,  the  other  fifteen 
elected  by  voters  having  the  qualifications  requisite  to  vote  for  pro- 
vincial assemblymen.  This  council  has  the  control  of  public  works, 
posts  and  telegraphs,  railways  and  navigation,  agriculture,  manufac- 
tures, trade,  immigration  and  colonization,  public  instruction,  chari- 
ties, and  the  health  department,  and  prepares  and  votes  the  appro- 
priations for  all  these  departments.  It  has  a  hearing  upon  the  esti- 
mates of  general  taxation  and  expenditures  of  the  island.  These 
estimates,  whether  modified  or  not  by  the  Supreme  Government, 
shall  always  be  laid  before  the  Cortes.  It  has  also  a  hearing  upon 
the  yearly  general  accounts  of  the  exchequer  ;  upon  the  matters 
pertaining  to  the  patronage  of  the  Indies  ;  upon  the  decisions  of  the 
provincial  governors  that  are  appealed  to  the  (lOvernor-General  ; 
and  upon  the  suspension  and  removal  of  mayors  and  aldermen.    The 


*The  Constitution  was  proclaimed  in  Cuba  in  1878. 

50 


laws  of  municipalities  and   of  provinces  are  amended  Uj  harmonize 
with  the  new  act. 

It  is  this  law,  so  thorouyhiy  in  accord  with  the  decentralization 
demanded  by  the  Autonomist  parly,  that  has  been  greeted  with  bul- 
lets by  the  seditious  element,  wiio  feared  the  effect  of  the  liberal 
policy  of  the  mother  country  upon  their  separatist  plans. 


XXIV. 

REFORH    LAW    OF    1895. 

L.-VW    FOR    THE    ReOK(;ANIZATI()N    ok     IHK    (icJVlCRNMKNT    AND    (llVIL 

Administration  ok  thk  Islands  of  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico. 

Alfonso  XIII.,  by  the  grace  of  God  and  the  Constitution,  King  of 
Spain,  and,  in  his  name  and  during  his  minority,  the  Queen  Regent 
of  the  kingdom  :  To  all  whom  these  presents  shall  come,  know  ye 
that  the  Cortes  have  decreed  and  we  sanctioned  the  following  : 

Article  I.  The  system  of  government  and  the  civil  administra- 
tion of  the  island  of  Cuba  shall  be  readjusted  on  the  following 
.bases  : 

Basis  i. 

The  laws  of  municijialities  and  of  provinces,  now  in  ffjrce  in  the 
island,  are  hereby  amended   to   the  extent   necessary  for  the  follow-      Provincia 

ing  ends  :  Assemblies 

The  council  of  administration  shall,  upon  the  report  of  the  pro- 
A'incial  assemblies,  decide  all  questions  relating  to  the  formation 
of  municipalities,  and  to  the  determination  of  their  boundaries. 

The  law  of  provinces  is  hereby  amended  as  to  the  matters  placed 
■by  these  bases  within  the  powers  of  the  council  of  administration. 

The  provincial  assembly  shall  decide  all  questions  pertaining  to 
the  organization  of  boards  of  aldermen,  to  their  election,  to  the 
qualifications  of  the  members  and  other  similar  questions. 

Each  board  of  aldermen  shall  elect  one  of  its  members  as 
mayor.  The  Governor-General  may  remove  a  mayor  and  apj)oint 
a  new  mayor,  but  the  new  mayor  must  be  a  member  of  the  board. 
In  addition  to  their  functions  as  e.xecutive  officers  of  the  boards  of 
aldermen,  the  mayors  shall  be  the  re]-)resentatives  and  delegates  of 
the  Governor-General. 

Whenever  the  Governor-Cieneral  shall  stay  the  resolutions  of  a 
municipal  corporation*  the  matter  shall  be  laid  before  the  criminal 
courts,  if  the  slay  be  due  to  a  misdemeanor  committed  by  the 
corporation  in  connection  with  the  resolutions,  or  laid  before  the 
provincial  governor,  upon  the  report  of  the  provincial  assembly,  if 
the  resolutions  were  stayed  because  they  e.xceeded  the  powers  of  the 
board,  or  because  they  infringed  the  law. 

The  provincial  governors  may  stay  the  resolutions  of  the  munici- 
pal corporation,  and  censure,  warn,  fine  or  suspend  the  membi-rs  of 
the  corporations  when  they  e.vceed  the  limits  of  their  powers. 

*  See  note  page  W>. 

51 


and 
.lunlclpalities. 


Taxation. 


Previous  to  removing  mayors  or  aldermen,  in  the  cases  provided 
by  law,  the  Governor-General  must  give  the  council  of  adminis- 
tration a  hearing  upon  the  removal. 

Every  member  of  a  municipal  corporation  who  sliall  have  pre- 
sented, or  voted  in  favor  of,  a  resolution  injurious  to  the  rights  of  a 
citizen  shall  be  under  a  liability,  enforcible  before  the  court  having 
jurisdiction,  to  indemnify,  or  make  restitution  to,  the  injured  party, 
the  liability  ceasing  according  to  the  rules  of  the  Statute  of  Limita- 
tions. 
Hunicipai  Each  board  of  aldermen  shall,  in  matters  defined  as  within  the 

exclusive  municipal  powers,  have  full  freedom  of  action,  agreeably 
with  the  observance  of  the  law,  and  with  the  respect  due  to  the 
rights  of  citizens.  In  order  that  the  boards  of  aldermen  and  the 
guilds*  may  fix  the  amount  of  the  taxes  to  cover  the  expenses  of 
the  municipality  and  may  determine  their  nature  and  their  distri- 
bution, in  accordance  with  the  preferences  of  each  municipality,  the 
boards  of  aldermen  and  the  guilds  shall  have  all  the  powers  neces- 
sary thereto,  compatibly  with  the  system  of  taxation  of  the  state. 

The  provincial  assemblies  may  review  the  resolutions  of  munici- 
pal corporations  relating  to  the  preparation  or  alteration  of  their 
estimates  of  revenues  and  expenditures,  and,  while  respecting  their 
discretionary  powers,  shall  see  that  no  appropriation  which  exceeds 
the  assets  be  allowed,  and  that  arrears  of  previous  years  and  pay- 
ments ordered  by  courts  having  jurisdiction  have  the  preference. 
The  Governor-General  and  the  provincial  governors  shall  in  these 
matters  have  only  the  intervention  necessary  to  insure  the  observ- 
ance of  the  law  and  to  prevent  municipal  taxation  from  impairing 
the  sources  of  revenue  of  the  state. 

The  annual  accounts  of  each  mayor,  inclusive  of  revenues  and  ex- 
penditures, ordinary  and  extraordinary,  shall  be  published  in  the 
municipality  and  audited  and  corrected  by  the  provincial  assembly, 
after  hearing  protests,  and  approved  by  the  provincial  governor  if 
they  do  not  exceed  loo.ooo  pesetas, f  and  by  the  council  of  admin- 
istration if  they  exceed  that  sum.  The  provincial  assemblies  and  the 
council  of  administration  shall  determine  what  officials  have  incurred 
liabilities,  except  in  the  cases  that  come  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  ordinary  courts. 

Appeals  to  the  council  of  administration  may  be  taken  from  the 
decisions  of  the  provincial  assemblies. 


The  Council. 


]>ASIS    2. 

The  council  of  administration  shall  be  organized  as  follows  : 

The  Governor-General,  ov  the  acting  Governor-General,  shall  be 
president  of  the  council. 

The  Supreme  Government  shall  appoint  ])y  royal  decree  fifteen 
of  the  councillors. 

The  council  shall  have  a  staff  of  secretaries,  with  tne  personnel 
necessary  for  the  transaction  of  its  affaws. 

The  office  of  councill(jr  shall  ])c   hon()rar\'  and   '>ratuitous. 


*  For  purposes  of  taxalion  the  various  trades  are  formed  into  guilds.  Taxes  on 
trades  are  apportioned  among  tlie  guilds,  whose  ofiRcers  fix  the  ta.x  to  be  paid  by 
each  member  according  to  the  valuation  of  his  business. 

52 


For  appoinlmeiit  as  councillor,  the  appoiiilee  nuist  have  residtd      Councillors 
in  the  island  durine  the  four  years  luevious    to   aopointment,  and    Appointed  by 

the  CruVkD 

must  have  one  of  the  following  (|ualifications  : 

To  be,  or  to  have  been,  president  of  a  chamber  of  commerce,  of 
the  Economic  Society  of  Friends  of  tiie  Country,  or  of  the  Sugar 
Planters'  Association. 

To  be  or  to  have  been  rector  of  the  university,  or  dean  of  the 
corporation  of  lawyers  of  a  provincial  capital,  for  two  years. 

To  have  been  for  the  four  years  previous  to  appointment  one  of 
the  fifty  principal  taxpayers*  of  the  island,  paying  taxes  on  real 
estate,  on  manufactures,  on  trade  or  on  licenses  to  practice  a  pro- 
fession 

To  have  been  a  senator  of  the  kingdom  or  a  representative  to 
the  Cortes,  in  two  or  more  legislatures. 

To  have  been  two  or  more  times  president  of  a  provincial  assem- 
bly of  the  island  ;  to  have  served  for  two  or  more  terms  of  two 
years  as  member  of  the  provincial  executive  committee  ;]  or  U)  have 
been  a  provincial  assemblyman  eight  years. 

To  have  been  for  two  or  more  terms  of  two  years  mayor  of  a 
provincial  capital. 

To  have  been,  until  the  proclamation  of  this  act,  member  of  the 
administrative  council  for  two  or  more  years. 

The  council  may,  whenever  it  shall  deem  it  expedient,  summon 
to  its  deliberations,  through  the  Governor-General,  any  chief  of  de- 
partment, but  the  latter  shall  not  vote  with  the  council. 

To  form  the  council  fifteen  additional  councillors  shall  be  elected      Councillors 
by  voters  having  the  (jualifications  requisite  to  vote  for  provincial 
assemblymen. 

The  term  of  office  shall  be  four  years.  The  elections  to  fill  va- 
cated seats  shall  take  place  every  two  years,  the  provinces  of  Ha- 
vana, Pinar  del  Rio  and  Puerto  Principe  voting  at  one  election,  and 
the  provinces  of  IMatanzas,  Santa  Clara  and  Santiago  de  Cuba  voting 
at  another. 

The  province  of  Havana  shall  elect  four  councillors  ;  the  prov- 
ince of  Santiago  de  Cuba  shall  elect  three  ;  and  each  of  the  other 
provinces  shall  elect  two. 

All  the  councillors  shall  be  elected  at  the  same  time  :  upon  the 
establishment  of  this  act,  and  after  a  total  removal  of  the  council. 
Two  years  after  the  establishment  of  this  act,  or  after  a  total  re- 
moval of  the  council  the  councillors  from  the  first  group  of  prov- 
inces above  named  shall  vacate  their  seats,  and  their  successors 
shall  be  elected. J 

In  ordinary  cases  the  election  shall  take  place  at  the  same  time 
as  the  elections  for  provincial  assemblymen,  the  votes  for  coun- 
cillor  and  for  assemblyman  being  cast  together. 

The  council  shall'be  the  judge  of  the  elections,  returns  and 
qualifications  of  the  councillors-elect  and  of  the  qualifications  of  the 


Elected  by  the 
People. 


*  See  note  p.  20. 

+  Each  of  the  si.x  provinces  of  Cuba— like  every  other  Spanish  province— has  a 
provincial  assembly.  The  assembly  meets  twice  a  year  in  sessions  «(  about  two 
weeks,  and  appoints  from  its  members  a  provincial  executive  committee  uomisuhi 
provincial)  to  act  during  the  intervals  between  the  sessions. 

X  At  the  next  election  the  councillors  elected  of  the  second  yroup  of  provinces 
would  vacate  their  seats. 

53 


councillors  appointed  by  the  Crown,  and  shall   decide  all   questions 
concernine  its  own  organization  under  the  law. 


Powers  of  the 
Council. 


Revenues. 


Suspension  of 

Hembers 

of  Council. 


Basis  3. 

The  council  of  administration  shall  resolve  whatever  it  may  deem 
proper  for  the  management  in  the  whole  island  :  of  public  works, 
posts  and  telegraphs,  railways  and  navigation,  agriculture,  manufac- 
tures, trade,  immigration  and  colonization,  public  instruction,  chari- 
ties and  the  health  department,  without  prejudice  of  the  supervision 
and  of  the  powers  inherent  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  nation,  which 
are  reserved  by  law  to  the  Supreme  Government. 

Each  year  it  shall  prepare  and  approve  the  estimates  with  suffi- 
cient appropriations  for  all  those  departments.  It  shall  exercise  the 
functions  that  the  laws  of  provinces  and  of  municipalities  and  other 
special  laws  shall  attribute  to  it.  It  shall  correct,  and  in  the  proper 
cases  approve,  the  accounts  of  its  revenues  and  expenditures,  which 
accounts  shall  be  rendered  every  year  by  the  general  management 
of  the  local  administration,*  and  shall  determine  the  liabilities 
therein  incurred  by  officials. 

The  local  revenuesf  shall  consist  of : 

1.  The  proceeds  of  Crown  lands  and  rents,  and  of  the  institutions 
whose  financial  management  pertains  to  the  council. 

2.  The  surcharges  which,  within  the  limits  fixed  by  law,  the 
council  may  add  to  the  taxes  imposed  by  the  state. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Governor- General,  as  superior  chief 
of  the  authorities  of  the  island,  to  carry  out  the  resolutions  of  the 
council. 

For  that  purpose  the  general  management  of  the  local  adminis- 
tration, as  delegate  of  the  Governor-General,  shall  attend  to  the  de- 
partments included  in  the  local  estimates  and  shall  keep  the  books 
thereof  and  shall  be  responsible  for  the  non-fulfillment  of  the  laws 
and  of  the  legitimate  resolutions  of  the  council  of  administration. 

Whenever  the  Governor-General  may  deem  any  resolution  of  the 
council  contrary  to  the  law  or  to  the  general  interests  of  the  nation, 
he  shall  stay  its  execution,  and  shall  of  his  own  motion  take  such 
measures  as  the  public  needs — which  would  otherwise  be  neglected — 
may  require,  immediately  submitting  the  matter  to  the  Minister  of 
the  Colonies. 

If  any  resolution  of  the  council  unduly  injures  the  rights  of  a 
citizen  the  councillors  who  shall  have  contributed  with  their  votes 
to  the  passage  of  the  resolution  shall  be  liable,  before  the  courts 
having  jurisdiction,  to  indemnify  or  make  restitution  to  the  injured 
party. 

The  Governor-General,  after  hearing  the  council  of  authorities,^ 
may  suspend  the  council  of  administration,  or,  without  hearing  the 
council  of  authorities,  may  suspend  individual  members  of  the  coun- 

*  An  office  in  charge  of  a  superior  official  that  under  the  Governor-General  acts 
as  the  executive  of  the  council  of  administration. 

+  Revenues  of  which  the  council  of  administration  may  dispose. 

t  See  p.  5'i. 

54 


cil  of  administration,  as  long  as  a  number  of  councillors  sufticieiu  to 
form  a  quorum  remains  : 

1.  When  the  council  or  any  one  of  its  meniljers  transjjresses  the 
limits  of  its  legitimate  powers,  and  impairs  the  authority  of  the  (Jov- 
ernor-General,  or  the  judicial  authority,  or  threatens  to  disturb  the 
public  peace. 

2.  For  a  misdemeanor. 

In  the  first  case  the  Governor-General  shall  immediately  inform 
the  Supreme  Government  of  the  suspension,  so  that  the  latter  may 
either  set  it  aside  or,  through  a  resolution  adopted  by  the  Council 
of  Ministers  within  two  months,  decree  the  removal.  If  at  the  expira- 
tion of  the  two  months  the  suspension  has  not  been  acted  upon,  it 
shall,  as  a  matter  of  right,  be  deemed  set  aside. 

In  the  second  case,  the  matter  shall  come  before  the  court  having 
jurisdiction,  which  shall  be  the  Supreme  Court  of  Havana  ///  banc, 
and  its  decision  therein  shall  be  final.  In  other  cases  the  accused 
may  appeal. 

The  council  shall  have  a  hearing  :  Advisory 

1.  Upon  the  general  estimates  of  expenditures  and  revenues  of      Powers  of 
the  island,    which   estimates,  prepared  by    the   finance  department        Council, 
of  the  island,  shall  be  submitted  yearly,  t(  gether  with   the  changes 
suggested  by  the  council,  during  the  month  of   March,  or  earlier,  to 

the  Minister  of  the  Colonies. 

Although  the  Supreme  Government  may  have  varied  the  esti- 
mates before  submitting  them  to  the  Cortes  for  appropriations  to 
meet  the  expenses  of  the  departments  and  the  general  obligations 
of  the  state,  it  shall  always  submit  with  them,  for  purposes  of  infor- 
mation, the  changes  suggested  by  the  council. 

2.  Upon  the  general  accounts,  which  the  finance  department  of 
the  island  must  without  fail  submit  annually  within  the  six  months 
following  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year,  and  which  shall  include  the 
revenues  collected  and  the  expenditures  liquidated. 

3.  Upon  the  matters  pertaining  to  the  patronage*  of  the  Indies. 

4.  Upon  the  decisions  of  provincial  governors  which  shall  come 
on  appeal  before  the  Governor-General. 

5.  Upon  the  removals  or  suspensions  of  mayors  and  aldermen. 

6.  Upon  other  matters  of  a  general  nature. 

The  Governor-General  may  demand  of  the  council  the  reports 
he  may  desire. 

The  council  shall  meet  in  ordinary  sessions  at  stated  intervals, 
and  in  extraordinary  session  whenever  the  (iovernor-Cieneral  may 
summon  it. 

Basis  4. 

The  Governor-General  shall  be  the  representative  of  the  National     Powers  and 
Government  in   the  island  of  Cuba.      He  sliall  as  vice-roval  iiatron        ""t"^*"' 

,  ..  ,  rix'i-ir        the  (jovernor- 

exercise   the  powers  mnerent  to  the  patronage  of  the  Indies.      He       oenerai. 

*  In  England  when  lords  of  manors  first  built  and  endowed  churches  on  their 
lands  they  had  the  right  of  nominating  clergymen  (provided  they  were  canonically 
qualified)  to  officiate  in  them.  This  right  is  the  "  patronage  "  (jus  patrciuilus). 
The  Bulls  of  Alexander  VI.  in  1493  and  of  Julius  II.  in  l.")08  granted  the  Crown  of 
Spain  the  patronage  of  the  Indies  (new  world).  It  includes  not  only  the  right  of 
presentation  to  the  churches  and  monasteries  built  and  endowed  by  the  Crown,  but 
other  rights  so  extensive  that  the  author  speaks  of-  the  kings  of  Spain  as  the  "  bom 
delegates  of  the  Holy  See  and  apostolic  vicar-generals  in  the  Indies.  ' 


Council  of 
Authorities. 


shall  be  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  the  navy  stationed 
on  the  island.  He  shall  be  the  delegate  of  the  Ministers  of  the 
Colonies,  of  State,  of  War  and  of  the  Navy.  All  the  other  authori- 
ties of  the  island  shall  be  his  subordinates.  He  shall  be  appointed 
and  removed  by  the  President  of  the  Council  of  Ministers,  with  the 
assent  of  the  council. 

In  addition  to  the  other  functions  which  pertain  to  him  by  law 
or  by  special  delegation  of  the  Government  it  shall  be  his  duty  : 

To  proclaim,  execute  and  cause  to  be  executed,  on  the  island, 
the  laws,  decrees,  treaties,  international  conventions  and  other 
mandates  that  emanate  from  the  legislature. 

To  proclaim,  execute  and  cause  to  be  executed  the  decrees, 
royal  orders,  and  other  mandates  that  emanate  from  the  executive 
and  which  the  Ministers,  w-hose  delegate  he  is,  may  communicate  to 
him. 

To  suspend  the  proclamation  and  execution  of  resolutions  of  his 
Majesty's  Government  when,  in  his  judgment,  such  resolutions 
might  prove  injurious  to  the  general  interests  of  the  nation  or  to 
the  special  interests  of  the  island,  informing  the  Minister  concerned 
of  the  suspension,  and  of  the  reasons  therefor,  in  the  speediest  man- 
ner possible. 

To  superintend  and  inspect  all  the  departments  of  the  public 
service. 

To  communicate  directly  upon  foreign  affairs  with  the  represent- 
atives, diplomatic  agents  and  consuls  of  Spain  in  the  Americas. 

To  suspend,  after  consultation  with  the  council  of  authorities,  the 
execution  of  a  sentence  of  death,  whenever  the  gravity  of  the  cir- 
cumstances may  require  it,  and  the  urgency  of  the  case  be  such  that 
there  is  no  opportunity  to  apply  to  his  Majesty  for  pardon. 

'l"o  suspend,  after  consultation  with  the  same  council,  and  on  his 
own  responsibility,  whenever  extraordinary  circumstances  prevent 
previous  communication  with  the  Supreme  Government,  the  consti- 
tutional rights  expressed  in  Articles  IV.,  V.,  VI.  and  IX.,  and  Sec- 
tions I,  2  and  3  of  Article  XIII.  of  the  Constitution  of  the  State, 
and   to  apply  the  Riot  Act. 

It  shall  also  be  the  duty  of  the  Governor-General  as  head  of  the 
civil  administration  : 

To  keep  each  department  of  the  administration  within  the  limits 
of  its  powers. 

To  devise  the  general  rules  necessary  for  the  execution  of  the 
laws  and  regulations,  submitting  them  to  the  Minister  of  the  Colonies. 

To  conform  strictly  to  the  regulations  and  orders  devised  by  the 
Supreme  Government  for  the  due  execution  of  the  laws. 

To  determine  the  penal  institutions  in  which  sentences  are  to  be 
served,  to  order  the  incarceration  therein  of  convicts,  and  to  desig- 
nate the  jail  liberties  when  the  courts  order  confinement  therein. 

To  suspend  any  public  official  whose  appointment  pertains  to  the 
Supreme  Government,  giving  the  Government  immediate  notice  of 
the  suspension,  with  the  reasons  therefor,  and  to  fill  pro  tempore  the 
vacancy  in  accordance  with  the  regulations  now  in  force. 

To  act  as  intermediary  between  the  Ministers  whose  delegate  he 
is  and  all  the  authorities  of  the  island. 

The  council  of  authorities  shall  consist  of  the  following  members  : 
the  liishop  of  Havana,  or  the  Reverend  the  Archbishop  of  Santiago 

56 


de  Cuba,  if  the  latter  Ije  present  ;  the  cuiuiuaiider  of  the  naval 
station  ;  the  military  governor  ;  the  presiding  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Havana  ;  the  attorney-general  ;  the  head  of  the  depart- 
ment of  finances,  and  the  director  of  local  administration. 

The  resoluti<jns  of  this  council  shall  be  drawn  up  in  duplicate 
and  one  of  the  copies  shall  be  sent  to  the  Minister  of  the  Colonies. 
They  are  not  binding  upon  the  Covernor-Creneral.  All  his  acts  must 
be  upon  his  own  resi)onsibility. 

The  Governor-Cieneral  shall  not  surrender  his  office  nor  absent 
himself  from  the  island  without  the  express  order  of  the  Supreme 
(rovernment. 

In  case  of  vacancy,  absence  or  inability,  the  military  governor 
shall  be  his  substitute,  and  in  default  of  the  latter  the  ccjmmander 
of  the  naval  station,  until  the  Supreme  Government  appoints  a  />ro 
tempore  governor-general. 

The  crimanal  part  of  the  Supreme  Court  at  Madrid  shall  have  the 
sole  jurisdiction  over  the  Governor-General  for  infractions  of  the 
Penal  Code.  Charges  of  maladministration  against  the  (rovernor- 
General  shall  be  brought  before  the  Council  of  Ministers. 

The  Crovernor-General  shall  not  amend  nor  revoke  his  own  de- 
cisions when  they  :  have  been  confirmed  by  the  Supreme  Govern- 
ment ;  or  have  vested  rights  ;  or  have  served  as  the  basis  of  a 
judgment  of  a  court,  or  of  the  adjudication  of  a  mixed  juridical- 
administrative  tribunal  ;  or  when  he  bases  his  decision  upon  the 
limitations  of  his  powers. 

K.\sis   5. 

The  civil  and  financial  administration    of    the    island,  under   the       CivUand 
supervision  of  the  Governor-General,  shall  be   organized  in  accord- 
ance with  the  following  rules  : 

Tlie  Governor-General,  with  his  staff  of  secretaries,  which  shall 
be  under  the  direction  of  a  chief  of  department,  shall  attend  directly 
to  matters  of  government,  the  patronage  of  the  Indies,  conflicts  of 
jurisdiction,  public  peace,  foreign  aftairs,  jails,  penitentiaries,  statis- 
tics, personnel  of  the  departments,  communication  between  all  the 
authorities  of  the  island  and  the  Supreme  Government,  and  all  the 
other  matters  that  are  unassigned. 

The  finance  department,  which  shall  be  under  the  charge  of  a 
superior  chief  of  department,  shall  attend  to  the  whole  management 
of  the  finances  ;  it  shall  keep  the  books,  and  audit  and  submit  the 
accounts  of  the  estimates  of  the  state  on  the  island. 

The  provincial  administrative  sections  shall  be  under  the  direct 
control  of  the  finance  department,  without  prejudice  of  the  suj^er- 
vision  that  the  Governor-General  may  delegate  in  fixed  cases  to  the 
provincial  governor. 

The  general  management  of  local  administration,  under  the 
charge  of  a  superior  chief  of  administration,  shall  attend  to  the  de- 
partments that  shall  be  supported  with  the  appropriations  made  by 
the  council  of  administration  ;  it  shall  keep  the  books,  and  audit 
and  submit  the  annual  accounts  of  the  estimates  of  the  council 
and  of  the  municipalities,  and  shall  enforce  the  resolutions  of  the 
council  of  administration. 

The  personnel  of  the  offices  and  the  methods  for  the  transaction 
of  affairs  shall  be  adapted  to  the  object  of  obtaining  the  greatest 


Financial  Ad> 
ministratioa. 


simplicity  in  tlie  transaction  of  affairs  and  in  fixing  official  respon- 
sibility. 

The  rules  of  law  shall  determine  the  cases  in  which  a  right  is 
vested  through  the  decision  of  a  superior  official  in  a  matter  that, 
in  accordance  with  this  basis,  falls  within  his  jurisdiction,  so  that  an 
action  before  the  mixed  juridical-administrative  tribunal  may  lie. 

Nevertheless  the  injured  party  may  at  any  time  bring  a  com- 
plaint before  the  Governor-General  in  matters  which  concern  the 
finance  department  and  the  general  management  of  local  adminis- 
tration, and  also  before  the  Minister  of  the  Colonies  in  any  matter 
that  concerns  the  administration  or  the  government  of  the  island  ; 
but  the  complaint  shall  not  interrupt  the  administrative  process,  nor 
the  legal  procedure,  nor  the  course  of  the  action  before  the  mixed 
juridical-administrative  tribunal. 

The  Governor-General  and  the  Minister  of  the  Colonies,  when 
using  their  powers  of  supervision,  either  on  their  own  initiative  or 
owing  to  a  complaint,  shall  refrain  from  interrupting  the  ordinary 
course  of  affairs,  as  long  as  there  be  no  necessity  of  taking  measures 
to  remedy  or  prevent  irreparable  damage,  before  the  final  decision 
of  the  competent  authority. 


Reforms 

for  the 

Island  of 

Porto  Rico. 


Art.  II.*  The  system  of  government  and  the  civil  administration 
of  the  island  of  Porto  Rico  shall  be  readjusted  upon  the  following 
bases : 

Basis  i. 

The  law  of  municipalities,  now  in  force  in  the  island,  is  hereby 
amended  to  the  extent  necessary  for  the  following  ends  : 

Questions  relating  to  the  formation  of  municipalities  and  of 
municipal  corporations,  combinations  of  several  municipalities  into 
one,  determination  of  the  boundaries  of  municipalities,  elections, 
qualifications  of  voters,  and  other  analogous  questions  shall  be  set- 
tled, without  appeal,  by  the  provincial  assembly. 

Each  board  of  aldermen  shall  elect  one  of  its  members  as  mayor. 
The  Governor-General  may  remove  the  mayor  and  appoint  a  new 
mayor,  but  the  new  mayor  must  be  a  member  of  the  board. 

Whenever  the  Governor-General  shall  stay  the  resolutions  of 
municipal  corporations  the  matter  shall  be  laid  before  the  criminal 
courts,  if  the  stay  be  due  to  a  misdemeanor  committed  by  the  corpo- 
ration in  connection  with  the  resolutions,  or  laid  before  the  provincial 
governor,  upon  the  report  of  the  provincial  assembly,  if  the  resolu- 
tions were  stayed  because  they  infringed  the  law. 

The  delegates  of  the  (iovernor-General  may  stay  the  resolutions 
of  municipal  corporations,  and  censure,  warn,  fine  or  suspend  the 
members  of  the  corporations  when  they  exceed  the  limits  of  their 
powers. 

Previous  to  removing,  in  the  cases  provided  by  law,  mayors  or 
aldermen,  the  Governor-General  must  give  the  council  of  adminis- 
tration a  hearing  upon  the  removal. 

Every  member  of  a  municipal  corporation  who  shall  have  pre- 
sented, or  voted  in  favc^r  of,  a  resolution  injurious  to  the  rights  of  a 
citizen  shall  be  under  a  !ial)ility,  enforcible    before  the  court  having 

♦Art.  II.  of  this  act  refers  exclusively  to  Porto  Rico.     Art.  III.  refers  both  to 
Cuba  and  to  Porto  Rico. 


58 


jurisdiction,  to  indemnify,  or  make  restitution  to,  the  injured  party, 
the  liability  ceasing  according  to  the  rules  of  the  Statute  of  Limita- 
tions. 

Each  board  of  aldermen  shall,  in  matters  defined  as  within  the 
exclusive  municipal  powers,  have  full  freedom  of  action,  agreeably 
with  the  observance  of  the  law  and  with  the  respect  due  to  the 
rights  of  citizens. 

In  order  that  the  boards  of  aldermen  and  the  guilds  may  fix  the      nunicipai 
amount  of  the  taxes  to  cover  the  expenses  of  the  municipalities  and      Taxation. 
may  determine   their   nature   and   their  distribution,  in  accordance         <P-  ^■> 
with  the   preferences   of  each  municipality,  the  boards  of  aldermen 
and  the  guilds  shall  have  all  the  powers  necessary  thereto,  compati- 
bly with  the  system  of  taxation  of  the  state.* 

The  provincial  assembly  may  review  the  resolutions  of  municipal 
corporations  relating  to  the  preparation  or  alteration  of  their  esti- 
mates of  revenues  and  exjienditures,  and,  while  respecting  their  dis- 
cretionary powers,  shall  see  that  no  appropriation  which  exceeds 
the  assets  be  allowed,  and  that  arrears  of  previous  years  and  pay- 
ments ordered  by  courts  having  jurisdiction  have  the  preference. 
The  Governor-General  and  the  provincial  governors  shall,  in  those 
matters,  have  only  the  intervention  necessary  to  insure  the  observ- 
ance of  the  law  and  to  prevent  municipal  taxation  from  impairing 
the  sources  of  revenue  of  the  state. 

The  annual  accounts  of  each  mayor,  inclusive  of  revenues  and 
expenditures,  ordinary  and  extraordinary,  shall  be  published  in  the 
municipality  and  audited  and  corrected  by  the  provincial  committee, 
after  hearing  the  proper  officials  upon  the  corrections,  and  shall  be 
allowed  or  disallowed,  without  appeal,  by  the  provincial  assembly, 
which  shall  determine,  also  without  appeal,  what  officials  have  in- 
curred liabilities,  except  in  the  cases  that  come  within  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  ordinary  courts. 

Art.  CXVIII.  of  the  present  law  of  municipalities  of  Porto  Rico 
is  hereby  amended. 

Basis  2. 

The  law  of  provinces  now  ni  force  in  the  island  of  Porto  Rico 
shall  be  amended  to  the  following  ends  : 

For  the  purposes  of  Articles  LXXXII.  and  LXXXIV.,  and  in 
accordance  with  Article  LXXXIX.  of  the  Constitution,  the  whole 
island  shall  continue  to  form  one  province,  divided  into  two  regions. 

The  provincial  assembly  shall  consist   of   twelve   assemblymen,      ^     .    ,  . 

/•I  »-rM  r      rr-  i      ii    i         f  'I'l  Provincial 

Six  from  each  region.  The  term  of  orifice  shall  be  four  years.  1  he  Assembly. 
election  to  fill  vacated  seats  shall  take  place  every  two  years,  the  ,p.  r., 
region  of  San  Juan  voting  at  one  election  and  the  region  of  Ponce 
at  another.  All  the  assemblymen  shall  be  elected  together  :  upon 
the  establishment  of  this  law:  and  after  a  total  dissolution  of  the 
assembly.  Two  years  after  the  establishment  of  this  law,  or  after 
a  total  dissolution  of  the  assembly,  the  assemblymen  of  the  first 
named  region  shall  vacate  their  seats,  and  their  successors  shall  be 
elected.  A  majority  of  the  members  of  the  assembly  shall  con- 
stitute a  quorum. 

The  provincial  assembly  shall  elect  its  president  ;  it  shall  be  the 
judge  of  the  elections,  returns  and  qualifications  of  the  assembly- 

*  See  note  page  51. 

59 


Powers  of 

the  Provincial 

Assembly. 

(P.  R.i 


Revenues. 
(P.R.J 


men-elect,  and  shall  decide  all  questions  referring  to  its  own  organi- 
zation under  the  law.  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  island  shall  have 
exclusive  jurisdiction  over  appeals  from  the  decision  of  the  provin- 
cial assembly  in  these  questions. 

The  Governor-General,  after  hearing  the  council  of  authorities, 
may  suspend  the  provincial  assembly,  or  without  hearing  the  coun- 
cil of  authorities  may  of  his  own  motion  decree  the  suspension  of 
individual  members,  as  long  as  a  number  of  assemblymen  sufficient 
to  form  a  quorum  remains  : 

1.  When  the  provincial  assembly  or  one  of  its  members  trans- 
gresses the  limits  of  its  legitimate  powers,  and  impairs  the  authority 
of  the  Governor-General,  or  of  the  judicial  authority,  or  threatens 
to  disturb  the  public  peace. 

2.  For  a  misdemeanor. 

In  the  first  case  the  Governor-Cxeneral  shall  immediately  inform 
the  Supreme  Government  of  the  suspension,  so  that  the  latter  may 
either  set  it  aside  or,  through  a  resolution  adopted  by  the  Council  of 
Ministers  within  two  months,  counted  from  the  date  of  departure  of 
the  first  direct  mail  for  the  Peninsula,  decree  the  removal.  If  at 
the  expiration  of  the  two  months  the  suspension  has  not  been  acted 
upon,  it  shall,  as  a  matter  of  right,  be  deemed  set  aside.  In  the 
second  case  the  matter  shall  come  before  the  courts  havmg  jurisdic- 
tion and  their  decision  shall  be  final,  both  as  to  the  suspension  and 
as  to  liabilities  incurred  by  officials. 

The  provincial  assembly  shall  resolve,  in  accordance  with  the  laws 
and  regulations,  whatever  it  may  deem  proper  for  the  management 
in  the  whole  island,  of  public  works,  posts  and  telegraphs,  railways 
and  navigation,  agriculture,  manufactures,  trade,  immigration  and 
colonization,  public  instruction,  charities  and  the  health  department, 
without  prejudice  of  the  supervision  and  of  the  powers  inherent  to 
the  sovereignty  of  the  nation,  which  the  laws  reserve  to  the  Supreme 
Government.  Each  year  it  shall  prepare  and  approve  the  estimates, 
with  sufficient  appropriations  for  those  departments,  and  shall  exer- 
cise the  functions  that  the  law  of  municipalities  and  other  special 
laws  shall  attribute  to  it.  It  shall  audit  and,  in  the  proper  cases, 
approve  the  accounts  of  the  provincial  revenues  and  expenditures, 
which  accounts  shall  be  rendered  every  year  by  the  section  of  local 
administration,  and  shall  determine  the  liabilities  therein  incurred 
by  officials. 

The  revenues  for  its  appropriations  shall  consist  :  first,  of  the 
proceeds  of  the  lands  and  rents  that  are  the  property  of  the  prov- 
ince or  of  the  institutions  whose  management  pertains  to  the  pro- 
vincial assembly  ;  second,  of  the  surcharges  which  the  law  may 
authorize  upon  the  taxes  of  the  state,  which  are  collected  by  the 
finance  department  of  the  island  ;  and  third,  of  the  contributions 
it  may  demand  from  the  municipalities,  the  contributions  being  ap- 
portioned among  the  municipalities  in  proportion  to  their  revenues. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Governor-General,  as  supreme  chief 
of  the  authorities  of  the  island,  to  carry  out  the  resolutions  of  the 
council.  For  that  purpose,  as  delegate  of  the  Governor-General, 
the  section  of  local  administration  of  the  general  gf)vernment  of  the 
island  shall  attend  tf)  all  the  departments  inchided  in  the  jirovincial 
estimates,  the  accounts  of  which  it  shall  keep,  and  shall  be  respon- 

60 


tratlon. 


sible  for  non-observance  of  the  law  and  (jf  the  resolutions  of  the 
assembly. 

Whenever  the  Ciovern(jr-(ieneral  nia\-  deem  any  resolution  of  the 
provincial  assembly  contrary  to  the  laws  or  to  the  "feneral  interests 
of  the  nation,  he  shall  stay  its  execution,  and  shall  of  his  own  mo- 
tion take  such  temporary  measures  as  the  public  needs*— which  would 
otherwise  be  neglected — may  require,  immediately  submitting,  to- 
gether with  the  report  of  the  council  of  administration  therein,  the 
matter  to  the  Minister  of  the  Colonies. 

If  any  resolution  of  the  provincial  assembly  unduly  injures  the 
rights  of  a  citizen,  the  assemblymen  who  shall  have  contributed 
with  their  votes  to  the  passage  of  the  resolution  shall  be  liable, 
before  the  court  having  jurisdiction,  to  indemnify,  or  to  make  resti- 
tution to,  the  injured  party. 

There  shall  be  in  the  regions  of  San  Juan  and  of  Ponce  delegates 
of  the  Governor-General,  with  the  rank,  pay  and  powers  proper  to 
further  the  transaction  of  administrative  affairs  and  the  discharge 
of  the  duties  of  the  Governor-General. 


Basis  3. 

The  council  of  administration  of  the  island  of  Porto  Rico  The  council 
shall  be  organized  and  shall  discharge  its  functions  in  the  manner  oi  Adminis- 
hereinafter  expressed. 

The  following  shall  be  president  and  councillors  ex  officio: 

The  Governor-General. 

The  Reverend  the  Bishop  of  Porto  Rico. 

The  military  governor. 

The  commander  of  the  naval  station. 

The  presiding  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

The  district  attorney. 

The  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  volunteers  of  the  capital. 

The  provincial  assemblymen  of  the  region  in  which  the  next 
biennial  election  shall  take  place. 

The  Supreme  Government  shall  appoint  by  royal  decree  si.x  more 
councillors,  two  of  whom  shall  have  the  legal  qualifications,  the  rank 
and  the  salary  of  chief  of  department  of  the  first  class,*  and  shall 
prepare  the  reports  necessary  for  the  deliberations  of  the  council. 

The  council  shall  have  a  staff  of  secretaries,  with  the  personnel 
necessary  for  the  transaction  of  its  affairs. 

The  office  of  all  the  councillors,  except  the  reporters,!  shall  be 
honorary  and  gratuitous. 

Previous  service  on  the  island  for  one  year  shall  be  an  indis- 
pensable qualification  for  appointment  as  reporter  in  the  council  of 
administration. 

For  appointment  as  councillor,  with  the  exception  of  the  report- 
ers, the  appointee  must  have  one  of  the  following  ijualiilcations  : 

To  be  or  to  have  been  president  of  a  chamber  of  commerce,  of 
the  Economic  Society  of  Friends  of  the  Country,  or  of  the  Associa- 
tion of  Agriculturists. 

*  See  note  below. 

\Po>ientes,  the  two  councillors  mentioned  above,  who  must  be  chiefs  of  depart- 
ment. 

61 


Advisory 

Powers  of 

Council. 

(P.  R.) 


To  be  or  to  have  been  director  of  the  Institute  of  San  Juan,  or 
dean  of  the  corporation  of  lawyers  of  San  Juan  de  Puerto  Rico,  for 
two  years. 

To  have  been  for  the  four  years  previous  to  appointment  one  of 
the  fifty  principal  taxpayers  of  the  island,  paying  taxes  on  real 
estate,  or  one  of  the  fifty  principal  taxpayers  paying  taxes  on  a 
license  to  practice  a  profession,  on  manufactures,  or  on  trade. 

To  have  been  a  senator  or  representative  to  the  Cortes  in  two  or 
more  legislatures. 

To  have  been  elected  two  or  more  times  president  of  the  pro- 
vincial assembly,  or  two  years  mayor  of  San  Juan  de  Puerto  Rico. 

The  council  may,  whenever  it  may  deem  it  expedient,  summon 
to  its  deliberations,  through  the  Governor-General,  the  chiefs  of 
department,  to  hear  them,  without  giving  them  a  vote. 

The  functions  of  the  council  shall  be  purely  advisory.  A  ma- 
jority shall  constitute  a  quorum.  It  may  appoint  committees  from 
among  its  members  to  inquire  into  the  matters  upon  which  it  may 
have  to  report. 

It  shall  have  a  hearing  : 

1.  Upon  the  general  estimates  of  expenditures  and  revenues  of 
the  island,  which  estimates,  prepared  by  the  finance  department  of 
the  island,  shall  be  submitted  annually,  together  with  the  changes 
suggested  by  the  council,  within  the  month  of  March  or  earlier,  to 
the  Minister  of  the  Colonies.  Although  the  Supreme  Government 
may  have  varied  the  estimates  before  submitting  them  to  the  Cortes 
for  appropriations  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  departments  and  the 
general  expenses  of  the  state,  it  shall  always  submit  with  them,  for 
purooses  of  information,  the  changes  suggested  by  the  council  of 
administration. 

2.  Upon  the  general  accounts,  which  the  finance  department  of 
the  island  must,  wathout  fail,  present  annually  within  the  six  months 
following  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year  and  which  shall  include  the 
revenues  collected  and  expenditures  liquidated. 

3.  Upon  the  matters  pertaining  to  the  patronage  of  the  Indies. 

4.  Upon  the  resolutions  of  the  provincial  assembly  which  occa- 
sion the  intervention  of  the  Governor-General,  as  provided  in 
Basis  2. 

5.  Upon  the  petitions  for  legislative  reforms  that  emanate  from 
the  provincial  assembly  before  their  submission  to  the  Supreme 
Government. 

6.  Upon  the  removals  and  suspensions  of  mayors  or  aldermen. 
"  7.  Upon  all  other  matters  that  the  laws  may  determine. 

The  Governor-General  may  demand  of  the  council  all  the  reports 
he  mav  desire. 


Basis  4. 


Powers  and 

Duties  of 

the  Governor" 

General. 

(P.  R.) 


The  Governor-General  shall  be  the  representative  of  the  National 
Government  in  the  island  of  Porto  Rico.  He  shall,  as  vice-royal 
patron,  exercise  the  powers  inherent  to  the  patronage  of  the  Indies. 
He  shall  be  the  commander-ui-chief  of  the  army  and  the  navy 
stationed  on  the  island.  He  shall  be  the  delegate  of  the  Ministers 
of  the  Colonics,  of  State,  of  War  and  of  the  Navy.  All  the  other 
authorities  of  the  island  shall  be  his  subordinates.  He  shall  be  ap- 
pointed  and  removed  by  the  President  of  the  Council  of  Ministers 

62 


wilh  the    assent  of   the  council   and    upon   the  proposition   of   the 
Minister  of  the  Colonies. 

In  addition  to  the  other  functions  which  pertain  to  him  by  law  or 
by  special  delegation  of  the  Government,  it  shall  be  his  duty  : 

To  proclaim,  execute,  and  cause  to  be  executed,  on  the  island, 
the  laws,  decreets,  treaties,  international  conventions  and  other  man- 
dates that  emanate  from  the  legislative  power. 

To  proclaim,  execute  and  cause  to  be  executed  the  decrees, 
royal  orders  and  other  mandates  that  emanate  from  the  executive, 
and  which  the  Ministers,  whose  delegate  he  is,  may  communicate  to 
him. 

To  suspend  the  proclamation  and  execution  of  resolutions  of 
his  Majesty's  Government  when,  in  his  judgment,  such  resolutions 
might  prove  injurious  to  the  general  interests  of  the  nation  or  to 
the  special  interests  of  the  island,  informing  the  Minister  concerned 
of  the  suspension  and  of  the  reasons  therefor  in  the  speediest  man- 
ner possible. 

To  superintend  and  inspect  all  the  departments  of  the  public 
service. 

To  communicate  directly  upon  foreign  affairs  with  the  repre- 
sentatives, diplomatic  agents  and  consuls  of  Spain  in  the  Americas. 

To  suspend,  after  consulting  with  the  council  of  authorities,  the 
execution  of  a  sentence  of  death,  whenever  the  gravity  of  the  cir- 
cumstances may  require  it,  and  the  urgency  of  the  case  be  such  that 
there  is  no  opportunity  to  apply  to  his  Majesty  for  pardon. 

To  suspend,  after  consultation  with  the  same  council,  and  on  his 
own  responsibility,  whenever  extraordinary  circumstances  prevent 
previous  communication  with  the  Supreme  Government,  the  consti- 
tutional rights  expressed  in  Articles  1.,  V.,  VI.  and  IX.,  and  Sections 
I,  2  and  3,  Art.  XIII.,  of  the  Constitution  of  the  state,  and  to  apply 
the  Riot  Act. 

It  shall  also  be  the  duty  of  the  Governor-General,  as  head  of  the  other 

civil  administration  :  Executive 

•  f      1  Duties. 

To  devise  the  general  rules  necessary  for  the   execution  of  the        ,p.  j^.j 
laws   and    regulations,    submitting    them    to    the    Minister    of    the 
Colonies. 

To  conform  strictly  to  the  regulations  and  orders  devised  by  the 
Supreme  Government  for  the  due  execution  of  the  laws. 

To  determine  the  penal  institutions  in  which  sentences  are  to  be 
served,  to  order  the  incarceration  therein  of  convicts  and  to  desig- 
nate the  jail  liberties  when  the  courts  order  confinement  therein. 

To  suspend  any  public  official  whose  appointment  pertains  to 
the  Supreme  Government,  giving  the  Supreme  Government  imme- 
diate notice  of  the  suspension,  with  the  reasons  therefor,  and  to 
fill  pro  tempore  the  vacancy,  in  accordance  with  the  regulations  now 
in  force. 

To  act  as  intermediary  between  the  Ministers,  whose  delegate  he 
is,  and  all  the  authorities  of  the  island. 

The  council  of  authorities  shall  consist  of  the  following  mem-  Council  of 
bers  :  The  Reverend  the  Bishop  of  San  Juan  de  Porto  Rico,  the 
military  governor,  the  commander  of  the  naval  station,  the  j)resid- 
ing  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  San  Juan,  the  attorney-general, 
the  head  of  the  Department  of  Finance,  and  the  chief  of  the  section 
of  local  administration. 

63 


Authorities. 
^P.  R.) 


The  resolutions  of  this  council  shall  be  drawn  up  in  duplicate 
and  one  of  the  copies  shall  be  sent  to  the  Minister  of  the  Colonies. 
They  are  not  binding  upon  the  Governor-General.  All  his  acts 
must  be  upon  his  own  responsibility. 

The  Governor-General  shall  not  surrender  his  office,  nor  absent 
himself  from  the  island,  without  the  express  order  of  the  Supreme 
Government.  In  case  of  vacancy,  absence  or  inability,  the  military 
governor  shall  be  his  substitute,  and  in  default  of  the  latter  the 
commander  of  the  naval  station,  until  the  Supreme  Government 
appoints  a/;'<?  tempore  Governor-General. 

The  criminal  part  of  the  Supreme  Court  at  Madrid  shall  have  the 
sole  jurisdiction  over  the  Governor-General  for  infractions  of  the 
Penal  Code.  The  charges  against  tiie  Governor-General  for  malad- 
ministration shall  be  brought  before  the  Council  of  Ministers. 

The  Governor-General  shall  not  amend  nor  revoke  his  own  deci- 
sions when  :  they  have  been  confirmed  by  the  Supreme  Govern- 
ment ;  or  have  vested  rights  ;  or  have  served  as  the  basis  of  a  judg- 
ment of  a  court  or  of  the  adjudication  of  a  mi.xed  juridical- 
administrative  tribunal  ;  or  when  he  bases  his  decision  upon  the 
limitations  of  his  powers. 

-\  decision  of  the  Governor-General,  of  a  ministerial  nature,  or 
in  a  matter  lying  within  his  discretion,  or  when  it  assumes  a  regle- 
mentary  character,  may  be  revoked  or  modified  by  the  Supreme 
Government,  whenever  the  latter  may  judge  such  decision  contrary 
to  the  laws  or  general  regulations,  or  injurious  to  the  government 
and  good  administration  of  the  island. 
Civil  and  The  civil  and  financial  administration  of  the  island,  under  the  su- 

Financiai       pervision  of  the  Governor-General,  shall  be  organized  in  accordance 

Administra-       ^j^i^  ^^g    following  rulcS  : 
tion.  * 

(P.  R.)  The  Governor-General,  with  his  staff  of  secretaries,  which  shall  be 

under  the  direction  of  a  chief  of  department,  shall  attend  directly 
to  matters  of  government,  patronage  of  the  Indies,  conflicts  of 
jurisdiction,  public  peace,  foreign  affairs,  jails,  penitentiaries,  statis- 
tics of  personnel  of  the  departments,  communications  between  the 
authorities  of  the  island  and  the  Supreme  (Government  and  all  other 
matters  that  are  unassigned. 

The  finance  department,  which  shall  be  under  the  charge  of  a 
superior  chief  of  department,  shall  attend  to  the  whole  management 
of  the  finances  ;  it  shall  keep  the  books  and  audit  and  submit  the 
accounts  of  the  estimates  of  the  state  in  the  island.  The  administra- 
tive sections  of  the  two  regions  shall  be  under  the  direct  control  of 
the  finance  department,  without  prejudice  of  the  supervision  that  the 
(iovernor-General  may  delegate  in  fixed  cases  to  the  regional 
governors. 

The  section  of  local  administration,  under  the  charge  of  a  chief 
of  department,  shall  attend  to  the  departments  that  shall  be  sup- 
ported with  the  appropriations  made  by  the  provincial  assembly  ; 
it  shall  keep  the  books,  and  audit  and  submit  the  annual  accounts 
of  the  provincial  estimates,  and  of  the  municipalities,  and  shall 
enforce  all  the  resolutions  of  the  provincial  assembly. 
OM'ciai  The  personnel  of  the  offices  and  the  methods  for  the  transaction 

'^IT""*'"       ^^^  affairs   shall  be  adapted  to  the  object  of  obtaining  the   greatest 
simplicity  in  transacting  affairs  and  in  fixing  official  responsibility. 


bility. 
(P.  R.) 


64 


The  rules  of  law  shall  clclenniiie  the  cases  in  which  a  right  is 
vested  through  the  decision  of  a  superior  official  in  a  matter  that 
in  accordance  with  this  basis  falls  within  his  jurisdiction,  so  that  an 
action  before  the  mixed  juridical-administrative  tribunal  may  lie. 

Nevertheless  the  injured  parly  may  at  any  time  bring  a  com- 
plaint before  the  (lovernor-Cieneral  in  matters  which  concern  the 
finance  department  and  the  management  of  administration,  and 
also  before  the  Minister  of  the  Colonies  in  any  matter  that  concerns 
the  administration  or  the  government  of  the  island  ;  but  the  com- 
plaint shall  not  interrupt  the  admmistrative  process,  nor  the  legal 
procedure,  nor  the  course  of  an  action  before  the  mixed  juridical- 
administrative  tribunal. 

The  Ciovernor-General  and  the  Minisier  of  the  Colonies,  when 
using  their  powers  of  supervision,  eitlier  on  their  own  initiative  or 
owing  to  a  complaint,  shall  refrain  from  interrupting  the  ordinary 
course  of  affairs,  as  long  as  there  be  no  necessity  of  taking  meas- 
ures to  remedy  or  prevent  irreparable  damage,  before  the  final  de- 
cision of  the  competent  authority. 

Art.  III.  The  system  of  election  and  the  division  of  the  prov- 
inces into  districts  for  the  provincial  elections  shall  be  modified  by 
the  (iovernment,  in  order  to  enable  minorities  in  both  Cuba  and 
Porto  Rico  to  have  representation  in  the  municipalities  and  in  the 
provincial  assemblies,  and  in  Cuba  in  the  council  of  administration 
of  Cuba;  and  in  order  to  apply  to  the  election  of  aldermen,  provin- 
cial assemblymen,  and  councillors  of  administration — in  so  far  as  the 
(jualifications  of  voters  and  the  annual  formation  and  rectification 
of  the  registration  lists  are  concerned — the  provisions  of  the  royal 
decree  of  December  27,  1892,  upon  the  reform  of  the  electoral  law 
for  the  election  of  representatives  to  the  Cortes,  Articles  XIV., 
XV.  and  XVI.  of  the  said  royal  decree  shall  be  extended  to  all 
classes  of  elections. 

For  all  electoral  purposes  the  taxes  imposed  by  the  council  of 
administration  in  Cuba,  and  by  the  provincial  assembly  in  Porto 
Rico,  by  virtue  of  the  new  powers  granted  to  them  by  this  act, 
shall  be  computed  as  if  imposed  by  the  state. 

Additional    Article. 

'I'he  Government  shall  render  the  Cortes  an  account  of  the  use 
it  makes  of  the  powers  hereby  granted  to  it. 

T  R  .A  X  s  rr  1 0  x  a  l    P  r  i  >  v  i  si  o  n  s. 

1.  The  councillors  of  administration  elected  in  the  island  of 
Cuba  upon  the  proclamation  of  this  act  shall  stay  in  office  until  the 
first  election  for  provincial  assemblymen  that  happens  after  two  years 
have  passed  since  the  first  election  of  the  council. 

2.  The  rectification,  according  to  the  methods  that  shall  be  estab- 
lished under  .\rt.  Ill  of  this  act,  of  the  registration  lists  for  the  elec- 
tion of  aldermen  and  of  provincial  assemblymen  in  both  Cuba  and 
Porto  Rico,  and  of  councillors  of  administration  in  Cuba,  shall  com- 
mence from  the  time  of  the  proclamation  of  this  act. 

The  Minister  of  the  Colonies  shall  ordain,  by  royal  decree,  the 
necessary  measures,  and  shall  fix  the  time  for  the  various  operations 
of  the  rectification,  so  that  it  may  be  finished  before  any  election 
take  place  to  establish  the  council  of  administration   in  Cuba  or  to 

65 


Provincial 
Elections. 


fill  the  seats  of  members  of  munici]-)al  corporations  whose  terms  have 
expired. 

The  election  for  the  latter  purpose  shall  under  no  circumstances 
be  postponed,  except  in  the  case  of  the  boards  of  aldermen,*  which, 
in  this  present  year,  and  if  the  Supreme  Government  deem  it  neces- 
sary, may  be  postponed  until  the  first  fortnight  of  next  June. 

In  subsequent  years  the  rectification  shall  take  place  in  the  man- 
ner provided  by  the  royal  decree  of  December  27,  1892,  referred  to 
in  Art.  III.  of  this  act. 

Therefore  : 
•    We  order  all  the  courts,  justices,   chiefs,   governors   and    other 
authorities,  civil,  military  and  ecclesiastical,  of   whatsoever  class  or 
dignity,  to  keep,  and  cause  to  be  kept,  fulfill  and  execute  this  act  in 
all  its  parts. 

Given  in  the  Palace,  March  15,  1S95. 

1,  JHE  Queen  Re(;ent. 

The  Minister  of  the  Colonies, 

1j  LENA  VENTURA    AhAK/UZA. 


XXV. 

CONCLUSION. 

Rebels  Cannot  At  the  termination  of  the  former  rebellion  the  only  condition  im- 

Speci  y         loosed  upon  the  capitulants  was   the  acknowledgment   of  the   sover- 
Grievances.       *  1  i  ^ 

eignty  of  Spain. 

The  best  evidence  of  the  faithfulness  with  which  the  successive 
Spanish  Ministers  have  i)erformed  the  promises  of  the  Zanjon  ca- 
pitulation, and  given  Cuba  a  stable  and  progressive  government  dur- 
ing the  seventeen  years  of  unbroken  peace  in  the  island,  is  the  fact 
that  the  very  men  who  to-day  are  breaking  their  solemn  treaty 
pledges  have  confined  themselves  to  generalities,  being  unable  to 
state  specific  grievances. 

S[>ain  has  granted  Cubans  political  rights  to  the  same  extent  as 
they  are  possessed  by  the  other  Spanish  citizens,  without  impedi- 
ment or  restriction  whatsoever ;  it  has  conceded  to  them  civil 
liberties,  guaranteed  by  the  Constitution  ;  antl  has  given  them  eco- 
nomic liberties  under  the  j)rotection  of  which  the  wealth  and  the 
commerce  of  the  island,  privileged  by  the  fertility  of  its  soil,  have 
enormcnisly  increased. 

Spain  has  made  concessions  that  are  more  than  legitimate. 
She  has  smrendered  tlie  h)cal  government  of  the  Spanish  West  In- 
dies to  the  iiulialivc  of  their  sons,  and  given  them  admission  to  all 
the  ranks  of  the  adnnnistration  of  the  state. 

To  Cuba  the  Spanish  llag  means  security  to  life  and  property, 
and  a  steady  advance   in  civilization  and   jjrosperity.     Spain  cannot 

*  Municipal  corporations  in  Cuba,  as  in  the  Peninsula,  liave  a  board  of  aldermen 
(ayuntamicnto)  and  a  municipal  council  (Junta  intmicipal). 

66 


deprive  her  loyal  Cuban  children  of  the  benefits  of  her  rule  ami 
abandon  them  into  the  hands  of  a  turbulent  minority,  untrained  in 
the  art  of  government.  Xo,  Spain  cannot  grudge,  nor  will  she 
grudge,  the  sacrifices  of  men  and  money  that  may  be  rendered  nec- 
essary by  the  unjustifiable  revolt  of  the  reckless  men  who  are  m 
arms  against  their  mother  country,  "  confining  themselves  to  an  ir- 
regular system  of  hostilities,  carried  on  by  small  and  illy  armed  Oen.  oranfs 
bands   of   men,  roaming,  without  concentration,  through   the  woods     j""'""  "  <  " 

'  ^  '  ~  Insur^ent.s. 

and  the  sparsely  populated  regions  of  the  island,  attacking  from  am- 
bush convoys  and  small  bands  of  troops,  burning  plantations  and 
the  estates  of  those  not  sympathizing  with  them."  * 

No  wonder  that  at  the  repetition  of  so  lamentable  a  spectacle 
the  Prime  Minister  of  Spain  uses  the  following  unanswerable 
argument  : 

"  We  cannot  admit  that  the  slightest  ground  exists  for  the  recog- 
nition of  the  belligerency  of  the  Cuban  insurgents,  whose  so-called 
President  and  the  members  of  his  executive  council  are  nomads, 
like  the  rebel  bands,  ever  on  the  move." 

April,  1S96. 

*  President  Grant's  message  of  June,  1S70. 


^PPBNDIX. 


In  1850  the  foreign  trade  of  Cuba  amounted  to  $50,000,000,  and 
in  1878  was  nearly  double  that  amount,  the  exports  alone  reaching 
over  $60,000,000,  while  for  the  year  1892  we  have  the  following 
figures  : 

Importations, |69,444,287 

Exportations 101,014,266 


Total, $170,458,553 

'J'his  carrying  trade  may  be  divided  as  follows  : 

In  Spanish  vessels, .feS.TO'J,.").")? 

In  foreign  vessels 106,755,996 


Total |17(),4.")8,553 

'I'he   total  value  of   trade   between   C'uba  and  the  l^niled    States 
for  1892  was  as  follows  : 

Exports  to  the  United  States,            ....       $89,327,000 
Imports  from  the  United  States 20,185,000 


Total, $109,512,000 

In    1894    the    value    of    merchandise    imi)orled    from    the    L'nited 
States  into  Cuba  was  !*;,3_:5,6i  7,000. 

i 


Taking  the  hulk  of  the  foreign  trade  in  connection  with  the  pop- 
ulation of  C'uha,  reducing  it  to  a  projiortion  per  capita  and  comjiar- 
ing  it  with  the  similar  rale  obtained  for  the  Spanish-American 
republics  in  1X92,  we  have  the  following  diagram  : 


CUHA. 


Population,  1  ,()()(),0()(). 


Population,  700,000. 


Population,  248,000. 


Population,  2,800,000. 


Population,  14,000,000. 


Population,  572,000. 


Population,  800,000. 


Population,  2,300,000. 


Population,  4,000,000. 


$100  per  inliabitant. 


Foreign  trade.  $170,000,000. 


URUGUAY. 


$8:5  per  inliabitant. 


COSTA  RICA. 


Foreign  trade,  ^61,000,000. 


f4.'>  per  inliabitant. 


CHILE. 


Foreign  trade,  ^18.000,000. 


!f;42  per  inhabitant. 


Foreign  trade,  .fl;?0, 000,000. 


BRAZIL. 


|40  per  inhabitant. 

Foreign  trade,  contos  de  reis  587,000,000. 


HAYTI. 


!j;35  per  inhabitant. 


PORTO  RICO. 


$27  per  inliabitant. 


VENEZUELA. 


Foreign  trade,  $-20,000,000. 


Foreign  trade,  *:58,000,000. 


$19.50  per  inhabitant. 

ARGENTINA. 

$15  per  inhabitant. 


Foreign  trade,  $36,000,000. 


Foreign  trade,  $242,000,000. 
(Paper  money  ) 


As  for  the  other  Siianish-American  republics,  such  as  Me.xico, 
Guatemala,  Nicaragua,  Salvador,  Colombia,  Peru,  Bolivia,  iVc,  the 
proportion  of  the  foreign  trade  to  the  population  does  not  amount 
to  $10  per  capita. 

No  better  proof  can  be  adduced  of  the  activity  and  prosperity 
attained  by  the  island  of  Cuba  under  Spanish  rule  than  the  above 
comparison. 


The  following  official  statistics  show  the  increase  in  crops,  com- 
merce, railroads  and  population  : 


Years. 

1878, 
1879, 
1880, 
1881, 
1882, 
1883, 
1884, 
1885, 
1886 
1887, 
1888, 
1889, 
1890, 
1891, 
1892, 
1893, 
1894, 


SiGAR  Crop 


Tons. 

530,598 
680,700 
547,089 
483,945 
500,357 
484,976 
560,934 
630,414 
705,403 
610,171 
630,311 
526,439 
645,894 
819,760 
976,789 
815,894 
1,018,028 


Years. 

1879, 

1894. 


Tobacco  Crop. 


Value. 
117,560,000 
20,829,000 


Shippinc,  1894. 


Ships  arrived, 
Ships  sailed.  . 

Totals,     . 


Ships. 
3,748 
3,713 

7.461 


Tons. 
4,358,555 
4,050,488 

8,409,044 


Railroads. 


Concessions  from  1834  to  1879- 

Public 

Private,        .... 


Concessions  from  1879  to  1896 — 
Public,          .... 
Private 


Total  miles. 


Miles. 


1,002 

61 

1,063 

179 

273 

452 

1.515 

White, 
Colorefl, 


Totals, 


PoPl 

I.ATION. 

iHsr. 

1870. 

579,490 

984,632 

444.510 

482,211 

1.024.000 

1,466,843 

1887. 
1,102,889 
528,798 

1,631,6H7 


'r^xE:s. 


TAXES    ON    AGRICULTURAL    PRODUCTS. 


Rate  of  Taxation.* 


1867, 
1868-1878,       . 

1880-1881,       . 

1882-1883,       . 
1883-1884  to  date. 


Ten  per  cent,  (on  net  profit). 

Rose  to  35  per  cent. 
^  On  sugar  and  tobacco,  10  per  cent. 
(  Other  products,  16  per  cent. 
(  On  sugar  and  tobacco,  2  per  tent 
(  Other  products,  8  per  cent. 

All  I'KODucTs,  2  i>er  cent. 


EXPORT    TAXES. 

Until  1880-18S1  a   tax   011   all   agricultural   products  of   i   per    cent. 

and  a  surchargef  of  10  per  cent. 
1881 — The  act  of  June  5,  iSSo,  reduced  the  ta.x  by  15  per  cent. 
1883 — The  surcharge  reduced  to  5  per  cent. 
1886 — The  act  of  August  5,  1886,  increased   the  reduction  of  15  per 

cent,  (of  1 881)  to  20  per  cent. 


TAX    ON    SUGAR    PRODUCTION. 

1892 — The  act  of  June  30,  1S92,  imposes  a  ta.\  of  10  cents  upon 
every  100  kilograms  (220  pounds)  of  centrifugal  sugar,  and 
of  5  cents  upon  every  100  kilograms  of  muscovado  and 
molasses. 

1893 — The  act  of  August  6,  1893,  reduced  the  tax  on  sugars  by  50 
per  cent,  and  abolishetl  the  tax  on  molasses. 

1895 — The  act  of  February  20,  1895,  abolished  the  tax. 


*  This  is  on  the  tttrt  profits  of  cultivation.  A  certain  per  cent,  of  the  market 
price  of  the  crop  is  deducted  for  expenses.  For  some  years  60  per  cent,  of  the 
market  price  (estimated)  was  the  deduction  for  the  expenses  of  tlie  cultivation  of 
coffee.  Thus  in  188;},  when  the  tax  was  2  per  cent.,  if  the  value  of  the  crop  were 
$l,0(Vi  the  cultivator  would  pay  a  tax  of  2  per  cent,  on  $400 ;  that  is  to  say,  $S. 

+  The  surcharge  is  on  the  amount  of  the  tax.  Thus,  if  the  value  of  the  article  be 
$1,IKX)  the  tax  would  be  $iO  and  the  surcharge  $1,  making  a  total  tax  of  SU. 


e:xf>e:nditure:s. 


From    l,**7M   to    1,S«S. 


Estimate  of  Expenditure  Subsequent  to  the  Zanjon  Treaty. 


1878-79, 
1880-81, 
1882-83, 
1883-84, 
1885-86, 
1886-87, 
1888-89, 
1890-91, 
1891-92, 
1892-93, 
1893-94, 
1894-95, 


$46,594,688 
44,035,850 
35,860,349 
34,170,880 
31,169,653 
25,959,734 
25,596,441 
24,446,810 
25,214,645 
23,074,594 
26,037,394 
The  same 


COMPARATIVE   TAXATION. 

During  the  last  seven  years  the  revenue  of  Cuba  has  l)een  esti- 
mated at  $25,000,000,  which  gives  a  per  capita  taxation  among  the 
1,600,000  inhabitants  of  $15.30.  Here  is  a  comparative  table  of  the 
taxation  per  capita,  embracing  several   Spanish-American  (-ountries  : 


Countries. 
Chile, 
Brazil, 
Uruguay,    . 
Costa  Rica, 
Argentina, 
Hayti, 
Cuba, 
J'drtf)  Rico, 


rotal  Revenue. 

Rate  per  Capita 

$65, 000, 00(1 

$23 

208,000,000 

22 

14,000,000 

20 

4, 000, 000 

19 

(17,000,000 

16 

!),0()0,000 

16 

25,000,000 

15 

5,000.000 

8 

3  121 


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